


The Purchase of a Wife

by writershapeholeonthedoor



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Because They Love Each Other, But everything works out in the end, Captivity, Character Death, Endgame Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Evil Genius Lex, Evil Plans, F/F, G!P Character, Gen, Girl Penis, Green Kryptonite, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Kryptonian Biology, Kryptonite, Love, M/M, Minor Violence, Multi, Protective Lena Luthor, Romance, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Trauma, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:21:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 86,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23568997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writershapeholeonthedoor/pseuds/writershapeholeonthedoor
Summary: When Lena returned to the US to work on her brother's company, the last thing she expected was to buy a wife. Because turns out, you can buy one for the prize of some million dollars.OrLex Luthor is pure evil and Lena is on a mission to defeat him and save the wife she accidentally bought.Don't say "bought", though. She doesn't like that word.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Mon-El/Winn Schott Jr.
Comments: 644
Kudos: 1502





	1. For the prize of some million dollars

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, I have been missing for the last couple of weeks because I have been working on this! I have to say, this is probably the fic that is giving me more proud until now, so I hope you guys enjoy it.  
> Please, take a close look at the tags so you don't get surprised by anything. This is a little dark, a little angst and a little romancy all at one, so take care while reading it.  
> Also, please keep in mind that English is not my first language and, even though I do my best, there's going to be some mistakes in between, so please forgive me.  
> Go follow me on Tumblr, @writershapeholeonthedoor for more content

Lena wondered, not for the first time in her short life, how sick her family could possibly be.

She showed up using her best cut out 3 pieces suit, the material clung into her skin just in the right way, her heels echoing throughout the silent longe as she strode confidently among business, boring, white men. The dozens of men standing outside meant nothing. If they couldn’t be inside, they meant nothing and Lena didn’t bother herself with even throwing them a glance, even if she could feel every eye in the room following her while she crossed the black marble her father had long ago had decided would be used as the floor.

If he had asked her, she would have told him it was ridiculous. Even if she was only four, at the time.

Lena made a quick pause to look down at her wristwatch before her palms pushed open the heavy black doors that lead to the stupidly super secretive auditorium that few people were allowed to walk into. She wasn’t sure she was one of these people, but she was going in regardless.

The doors, despite heavy, didn’t make a noise as they opened to reveal a large room occupied by several leather chairs displayed side by side to face a large stage in front of the room. There was a short, gray-haired man talking into a mic on the stage, but she had no idea who he was, so Lena scrubbed his words to the side as the doors closed behind her. Her green-emerald eyes searched the room, noticing and counting every empty chair. The auditorium might have around 300 chairs, but if half of those were taken was already too much.

So much for creating a space to receive only the people you trust, Lena rolled her eyes at the thought as she chose the closest chair as her spot to observe. There were fewer men up there so away from the front lines, but a couple of them turned to give her a wry look. Thankfully, no one said a thing because Lena wasn’t sure she could pretend not to hate everyone there so early in the day.

What kind of monster schedule meetings for eight in the morning?

Oh, right. Her dear brother.

Speaking of the Devil, Lena noticed how every man – and they were all men, there was not even a single woman in the middle of them – stood up to clap as the short weird man left the stage to pass his mic to another person. Her brother, obviously, because there were not many things on Earth that could make middle-aged men celebrate other than other middle-aged men. And they were probably being a jerk.

Lena crossed her legs, right on top of the left, and rested her palms on top of her knee as she allowed her eyes to follow Lex while he walked to the front of the stage. He was using a suit that was so similar to hers that she couldn’t help the sneer of her lips or the slight twitch of her fingers. They haven’t seen each other in five years and somehow they managed to show up dressed like the perfect siblings they were always pushed to look like.

Mother would be proud, Lena thought with a scoff and an eye roll because Lillian was probably around, either hidden behind the curtains or cursing someone else’s existence, and she would love to see Lena just as much as she would love to see her mother again. They were a dysfunctional family, go figure.

Since she had no idea what Lex was about to say, which was a little upsetting, to say the least, Lena picked out her ear to listen closely to every word. Her brother was many things, and manipulative was the biggest part of him. If he made her walk inside their dad’s secret dungeon, there was a reason behind it.

“Good afternoon, close friends.” Lex had learned from their father, Lena took notice. How to captivate an audience, stroke egos, and grab people’s attention. He was a true CEO. He was just a bad person. “Thank you so much for attending my invitation in such short notice. I’m sure many of you were busy, some of you might have just got in the country, but it’s going to worth it, I promise.”

His smile was sickening. When she was a kid and Lena was scared of the whole new world around her, Lex used to take her to a chess game and he would smile at her every time she killed one of his pieces. It was already a creepy smile back then, but he had surely refined his art during the years.

“As many of your might know,” Lex started after a short sigh and he started to pace from one side of the stage to the other one, one hand in his pocket, eyes glued at his shoes. Lena had seen that same posture on their father too many times to identify it as conceitedness. The difference was that their father used it after closing a big deal with another company. Lex used it as his armor. “Luthor Corporation has been investing in the past years to make sure the world is a better, safer place. Since it came to our realization that aliens aren’t just real, but they walk among us without we even knowing about it, it has been our prime priority to help the population to fight and keep safe.”

A quick glance around the room let Lena know that that sick view wasn’t shared by one or two other people in the room, but by all of them. Every other man was nodding fervently to Lex’s speech and she had to bite on her bottom lip to stop herself from saying anything. Lex didn’t even know she was there, it was better to lay low for a while longer if she could, even if she was being forced to hear one lie after another one.

“That said, I’m always glad when my company manages to create a new device, a new technology, capable of helping people like us to identify the monsters between us. Alien detection devices became so popular that almost every family in America has one in their houses!” He looked up for a brief moment to throw a wicked smile to a man who cheered from the audience. “But L-Corp was finally able to go further beyond,” Lex’s tone became secretive suddenly and Lena’s breath got suck in the back of her throat despite her best efforts. “We captured an alien.”

The hustle around the room came fast and loud, and Lena arched one eyebrow as she tried really hard not to look around to see men inclining on their seats to talk excitedly to their closest middle-aged white colleague. Lex waited a couple of seconds before talking again and he was visibly so proud of himself that Lena almost gagged. “Not any alien, my friends. Superman.”

If the noise before was surprising, it suddenly became deafening. Lena couldn’t bear the curiosity anymore – that’s how she ended up there in the first place, after all – and her eyes roamed the room twice. Men around her were looking like school girls gossiping with their friends late at night and the image had the potential to be funny if the reality of Lex’s words hadn’t hit her right in the face.

He captured Superman.

Lena knew it was something he was trying to do for literally a decade now, but she never thought he would be able to do it. The unhealthy, crazy obsession he developed on the man who was once his best friend was always concerning to her. Not to their mother, who would find it all quite amusing, but for Lena it was a clear sign that something bad was going to happen.

She just always thought the bad thing would be Lex dying because of his stupid ideas. Never, not even in a million years, Lena would have thought that the bad thing would be the downfall of the strongest man on Earth.

And only God knew what Lex would do with the man now that he have him.

“I will convoke every single one of you back once I have more information to share about him and about all the discovers we’re going to make with his help.” Lena knew that by ‘help’ Lex meant some kind of torture and her insides went so cold that her fingers clenched and dug on her leg so hard that she was afraid there might be a bruise later. “Meanwhile, I have something else to share.”

Lex turned around to make a hand signal to someone behind the curtains – was that their mother? That would be hilarious. The black curtain behind him slowly started to open from the middle, so slow in fact that Lena was almost tempted to get up and do it herself. But it clearly had a point, if the theatrical way Lex was talking was any indication. Which always was, to be honest.

As he kept talking, his voice getting louder and louder even though everyone else had fallen in silence again, the distinctive noise of metal wheels scratching the floor started to resound around the auditorium.

“Without our knowledge, and it’s a little terrifying, gentlemen, I understand, but without our knowledge, Superman wasn’t the only Kryptonian walking on Earth among us.”

Lena knew what that was all about right then and there. She was never accused of being dumb or stupid, her brain worked more than just fine, so she was able to make the connections pretty fast. Whatever was being wheeled behind Lex at the same slow pace as the opening curtains were going to be another alien that her dear brother chose to display like a prize in front of rich middle-aged white men from all around the world to fondle his own ego.

She wished she had waited for Lex in his office. She wished she hadn’t decided to go down several floors and enter the secret dungeon when Lex’s secretary told her he wasn’t there. Lena was never accused of being dumb, no, but she was accused of being impatient and quite curious, she had to admit, so it was no one else’s fault but hers that she was being forced to watch another being get humiliated by her brother simply because he could. There was no way she could walk away now, not when Lex was standing tall in front of everyone and could easily spot her leaving, so she had to sit and watch.

Maybe pray Lex didn’t decide to kill the poor alien in front of everybody just because. She was also going to do that.

“Superman has a cousin!” Lex’s voice rose almost to a high pitch note as one of his arms shot up to the ceiling like he was asking God how that was possible. He waited for the commotion to go around again, whispers and barely muffled screams, as his hand slowly made it’s way back to his pocket and he kept walking. “Superman has a cousin,” he repeated in a much lower tone.

Theatrical, really.

Lena despite his words, his actions and his face, but she had to admit he had a way with the crowd because even her, with angrily shaking hands and curled lips, was leaning on the edge of her seat as she waited for his next words. How curious, really, that he would inherit such a desirable trait from their father, only to use it to his evil plans.

The next time Lex turned on his shoes and walked back to the middle of the stage, he was joined by a cage. Lena had to bite back a gasp. The whole thing was so inhumane and cruel that she took a couple of seconds to realize her brother was speaking again. Her heart was beating so fast and so painfully on her chest that she could feel it on her temples and fingertips.

“This cousin lived in Midvale, from all places. A lovely place to build a family.” His silly joke got the reaction he was seeking from the crowd and he nodded in appreciation to himself. Slowly, just as slow as the curtains and the wheels being turned before, a shadow appeared in the back of the cage, the clink of metal following it as it approached the front entrance and, therefore, the enlightened part of the stage. “Behold, gentlemen, Kara Danvers.”

Lena didn’t realize she was holding her breath until the burning on her lungs became so much she loudly gasped for air. Her hands had clenched at the soft cushion under her and she could feel a cold sweat running down her spine. The alien, Superman’s cousin, stepped in the view of everybody and a collective gasp could be heard probably even through the heavy black doors keeping them inside.

It was a girl. Lena had to blink twice as hard because that was a girl.

“Or, how I like to call her,” Lex’s sick smile was back as his head turned to stare at the cage behind him, one hand raised to point at it like he was presenting a horse in an auction. “Supergirl.”

Lena fell back on her chair like she had been pushed against it. Her hands were shaking, she could feel them but couldn’t do anything about it, her legs were trembling, her mouth was probably open in shock.

Kara Danvers, Superman’s cousin, or Supergirl, looked as young as her. Maybe a couple of years older, maybe not even that. Her hair was blonde and it was falling down her shoulders in greasy messy waves like she hadn’t had the opportunity to run a comb through it for a few days. Her hands were tied in front of her body, squeezed together by her wrists so hard that, even from across the room, Lena could see how pale her skin was. Her feet were always tied by her ankles, both chains shinning in an ailing green sort of way that let Lena know they were either made of Kryptonite or were reinforced by it. Her clothes looked a mess around her thin frame, shred pieces here and there hanging from her body, suspicious stains all over, and simply looking like they had seen way better days.

The girl also looked like she had seen better days. There was a large purple spot on her chin, her skin was pale enough that Lena could see the green lines under it, her shoulders were slumped forward and she was leaning more into her left leg. But she held her head up high proudly and she kept staring Lex with a strength Lena envied.

She wasn’t about to bend down, that’s for sure.

“We won’t need her because we already have Superman,” Lex’s voice pulled Lena from her stupor and her eyes fell back into him. “Then I thought: How could I reward my close friends for all of their support since I assumed the chair on L-Corp?” He started pacing again and Lena noticed how the girl inside the cage followed him with her head. “Well, I won’t need her but some of you might want to get her.”

Lena allowed the talking and hustle to fall deaf in her ears as her brain started to make more and more connections. She prayed to any God that might exist that she was wrong.

“That’s why I called you all here today.” Lex stopped right in front of the cage with a satisfied smile, hand on his pocket, the other one around the mic, stuffed chest. “I know many of you were confused as to why I decided to name this meeting the way I did, but it will all make sense in a couple of minutes.” His eyes glanced around the room like he was bathing in the fact that he had every single person’s attention. “The Purchase of a Wife.”

Lena gasped again, hands letting go of her seat to clench around nothing as her widened eyes watched her brother’s next cruelty.

“I hope you brought your checks today, gentlemen.”

* * *

There was a long list of things Lena would never agree with Lex about, but selling a woman for a forced marriage had to be cherry on top.

She watched without actually see as man after man shot up from their chairs to get a closer look, to gather around, to stand in front of the stage like they were being presented a horse. It was disgusting and it made Lena feel sick on her stomach. Voices were rising around her, people were trying to get their question heard above everyone else, several men were looking down at their phones to what Lena assumed was their bank account and she realized they were all honestly on board with what was about to happen.

No one, not even a single one of them, seemed distraught like her. They were okay with whatever was about to happen. They didn’t care that Lex was selling a... What, exactly? Person? Not another human being, but not someone who deserved to be sold like a horse either.

Did Lex completely lose his mind? Was he truly going to host an auction to sell a woman?

“Gentlemen, please, take place so we can start this.”

Yes. Yes, he was.

Lena gulped as air escaped her throat. Men slowly took one last look at the encaged blonde before they returned to their seats with grins and appreciating smirks that made Lena’s stomach clench. She could only imagine how the other woman might feel since those looks were directed at her.

“We will start with...” Lex hummed and puffed air from one cheek to another like he was thinking really hard about his next words. Finally, he raised his index finger and smiled widely. “5 million.”

Ridiculous, Lena snarled and bit the tip of her tongue to stop a scream. She looked around, trying to find a way to put an end in that madness. “6 million,” a man screamed from somewhere in the room.

“10 million.”

Lena had no idea who those people were, to be honest, she had never seen any of them before that day, but she hated every single one of them. She tried not to think why exactly they wanted to _buy_ a wife, but she had an idea of what would happen to the woman if one of those men landed a hand on her.

“12 million.”

She barely registers as Lex answered when someone asked how she was supposed to be tamed. Like a horse or a dog. The Kryptonite chains would come with the purchase, Lex said calmly like he wasn’t talking about keeping a woman captive. Lena always knew there was something wrong with her brother, she just never thought he would go as far as being a monster.

“20 million,” someone screamed in dispair like he just wanted to win the big prize and be over it.

Lena tried to find the man among the crowd, but they were all standing again, shouting, raising their hands, jumping to be seen.

“40 million!”

“Wow, a double!” Lex exclaimed so excitedly that he almost let his mic drop. He pointed at a bald man standing close to the stage and nodded. “Well done, Mr. Carve.”

“50.” All heads turned to the deep voice coming from the back of the group. The man who spoke was much calmer than everyone else. He was still sitting down, looking at his phone like he was bored, using sunglasses even though they were indoors. He looked over sixty, his gray-hair was perfectly done and his suit seemed as expensive as a car could be and he slowly raised his head when all that received him was silence. “50 million,” he repeated with a shrug.

Mr. Carve apparently didn’t like being challenged like that because he huffed and looked back at Lex with an eye-roll. “60.”

“70.” The gray-haired man said and got up, putting his phone away in his pocket. Everyone else seemed to realize the fight was between both of them now and no one dared to get in the middle of it. Lex was still smiling like a fool while looking between them.

Lena also got up before she even realized what she was doing. Her legs were shaking so hard that she almost tripped on her heels.

“100.”

“150.”

Mr. Carve flicked his tongue, his shoulders squared and he took a deep breath before looking at the other mysterious man with a deadly glare. “200.”

The other man didn’t flinch. He only smirked and raised his hands, palms up. “250.”

Lena would be damned if she let her brother sell another woman like that. She would be cursed if she let her family’s monstrosity to destroy another life. She would never forgive herself if she walked away from that room a free woman when another one had been sold to God knows what atrocities might be waiting for her. Mr. Carve didn’t seem like a nice person, neither the other mysterious man and Lena would rather be run over by a train than let any of them take that gentle-looking soul with them.

In the end, she had to thank her mother for teaching her to keep her ground even when she was scared. Her voice reverberates all around the space, silencing every other person in the room, deep and strong and chilling to the bones of everyone else. “500 million dollars.” Lex’s eyes instantly fell on her across the room and she noticed when he frowned and smiled a second later. “In cash,” she added as her hands waved around in one single move.

Mr. Carve gave in with a sigh, but the other man didn’t look at her when he spoke again. “550 million.”

“I can keep going all day, sir.” Lena spatted viciously as her hands crossed in front of her body. “700.”

He hesitated for a second, his back still turned at her before he chuckled lowly. “She’s not _that_ pretty.”

It was time for Lex to hesitate. At some point, he had crouched down to take a better look at the small ants beneath him, but he shot up in a single jump as he laughed loudly. The noise hit every wall around them until it reached Lena’s ear, chilling her bones and sending a bad shiver down her spine.

“I had no idea my little sister was looking for a _wife_!” He shook his head. “You should have told me, sis. I could have found someone more worthy of you. Someone more... dignified. Human, maybe?”

Lena tried not to shrink under his stare, even if his dark eyes seemed to burn every good part of her soul and dared her to join him in the dark side. That was why she took the first opportunity to fly away and took it, five years ago. Maybe she shouldn’t have gotten back.

“I think that will be just fine,” Lena replied in what she hoped was a neutral tone. By the pure glee in Lex’s eyes, she assumed she failed at that.

She realized the trap Lex had set out for her a second too late when he chuckled again. “Sold!”

* * *

England had pleasant weather in May.

It’s the peak of spring, the temperatures are a little high, the scenery is all green and flowery, the days last a little longer.

Lena missed the quiet of her apartment in calm Oxford and the big tree outside her window that allowed her to see flowers first thing in the morning. She missed the inverted streets and the nice cafe around the corner. But what she missed the most was the fact that there were no Luthors in England.

She was alone there, all by herself, leaving on her own. No Lex, no Lillian, no uncle Ben or anyone else whose last name was Luthor. She had no idea why they all disliked England, but she wasn’t going to complain about that. Being away from everyone and anything related to her family was her goal when she left five years prior.

Why she had to come back to National City of all places was a mystery. She was way better across the ocean and she should have stayed there instead of sticking her nose in her brother’s sick plans.

She should have because now she had just purchased a wife and she had no idea what to do with it.

Her. What to do with her.

Lena was waiting in her large living room, standing awkwardly right in the middle, knee bumping into the coffee table at every few seconds. She was back in National City for less than two days, she had rented that penthouse a day before she got there, she had literally no personal item laying around and, despite the large white sofa that came with the apartment, the white coffee table that came with the apartment, the fluffy rug that came with the apartment and the rack that came with the apartment, there was nothing else around her.

And she was just minutes away from having a wife there.

It was ridiculous to think like that, Lena tried to chastise herself. She bought the woman so she wouldn’t have to get dragged to some stupid looking, jerk kind of man that would do unspeakable things to her. She bought her so she could free her. Once they were alone and Lex was out of their neck, she would open the door and sent the woman on her way and she would be left alone again. No big deal.

She had just spent 700 million dollars to free a strange woman, but sure, whatever. It was her inheritance, she could do what she pleased with it. Like, purchase a wife.

Jesus, she really needed to stop thinking like that or she might go crazy.

A knock on her door pulled her away from her thoughts and Lena sighed as she took one last look around her living room. It was so lifeless that even _she_ was sorry the woman had to see it too. Not that she had any plans of redecorating any time soon. She had no plans of staying around too long either.

When Lena opened the door, she came face to face to Lex, a tall strong looking man using a gigantic sunglass and the blonde woman she had plans of setting free later that day.

“Lena!” Lex greeted her with a large smile and open arms, and, for a scaring moment, she thought he was pulling her in for a hug. Instead, he let his arms drop and took several steps inside her apartment like he was used to making visits there every Tuesday night. “I brought your last big acquisition.”

He walked straight to where she had left a bottle of whiskey and served himself a cup. At the same time, the man pushed the blonde inside by grabbing her arm tightly and Lena had to take a step to the side so she wouldn’t get knocked out of the way. She took that precious gained seconds to study the situation.

The woman’s feet were now free, but her hands were still tied. They had changed her ripped clothes into some sort of weird one-piece jumpsuit that did nothing to flatter her body. Her hair still seemed like it had just survived a war on itself, though. This time her eyes were glued on the floor as she was dragged around and there was a new bruise to the side of her face, from her temple to her chin, and Lena frowned when she saw it.

“You can leave her there, Xavier.” Lex waved the hand that wasn’t holding his second cup of whiskey and the thug stopped short on his tracks, forcing the blonde to come to a halt too. Her body was jerked as the hand around her arm held her firmly and Lena noticed how she flinched at what she assumed was in pain. “Wait for me downstairs.”

Once they were alone, and it was rather fast since the man was very agile despite his large size, Lex smiled at her from the rim of his glass. “I was shocked to see you’re back, but I was even more shocked that you decided to participate in my little meeting.”

Meeting. Like he didn’t sell a woman right then and there.

“Is that it?”

He raised his hands in surrender and chuckled. “I get it! Newlyweds want some space, don’t worry, I get it.” Lex approached the blonde standing weakly on her shaky legs and started to take the chain from her wrists. Lena wondered what was the trick there. Lex hated aliens more than she hated Lex, he would never free one of them so easily. “I hope you don’t mind, but I made her a ring since you didn’t give her one,” his voice was cheeky as he started to wrap the chain around his hand. Once he was done, he shoved the thing in Lena’s arms and moved to grab the alien’s hand so harshly the woman hissed in pain. He raised the member until it was in Lena’s eye level and smirked. “It’s made of Kryptonite, so it will dull her powers. It’s not enough to kill her, just enough to make her weak and... docile.”

Lena tried not to gulp at the sight of a gold ring on the woman’s ring finger. It was even more despicable because, from the ring, there was a chain, also in gold, that ran from the back of her hand until it locked into a wristband. There was a single green rock, so small that Lena could barely see, standing proudly on the ring, but the bracelet was something else. The gold was carved in beautiful draws, forming flowers and leaves, and it had the potential to be the prettiest thing Lena ever saw if it wasn’t attached to a ring that was literally torturing the woman.

“She won’t be able to break it, don’t worry. No one can.” He twisted her wrist without a care, causing her to take a step closer so he wouldn’t break her bone. “There’s a lock here.” Lex patted the pocket of his suit until he pulled a small key from it, so small she could barely see it at all. “I’m the only one with a key and that’s the only way to open it. And I suggest you don’t try it either, creature,” he snarled at the woman behind him. “Anyway, I have no idea why you decided to buy her, but feel free to use it now.” In his last attempt at humiliating, Lex placed the woman’s wrist on Lena’s hand and chuckled. “Have fun.”


	2. Guess I bought a wife

The second they were alone, Lena started to panic.

Don’t get her wrong, she was panicking before. It’s just that she was alone before and she could panic as much as she wanted, but now she had a woman standing in front of her, looking at her with wide questioning eyes and Lena had no idea what she was supposed to do.

She let go of the blonde’s wrist almost like it had burned her and she blushed hard when she noticed how the woman braced her own hand against her chest. Lena tried to find something she could say, but her brain was failing her for the first time in her life and it was less than pleasant.

If that’s how men around the world felt every day, she could understand half of the dumb decisions they made.

“There’s a tracker,” the woman whispered shyly.

“What?” Lena asked, tilting her head to the side an inch.

The blonde looked down at her hand and sighed. “He put a tracker on the bracelet.”

“Oh.”

Oh.

Well, that ruined all of her plans.

Lena ran a hand through her hair as she tried not to look so disappointed with the news she just received. If Lex had the job to put a tracker on the woman, it meant he had all intentions of keeping an eye out for her. If Lena let her go, he would find out.

“Well, I-“ Lena tried hard to keep her hands from shaking and she decided the best way for that to happen was if she kept her mind busy. “Do you- Do you have any items?”

The blonde shook her head. “No, ma’am.”

The name sounded strange on her ears and the strangeness of it all was almost palpable in the air. Lena sighed. “You can call me Lena,” she offered.

The woman nodded slowly and allowed her arms to fall to her sides. “Kara.”

“Kara,” Lena acknowledge with a tilt of her head. She tried to smile at the blonde, but she knew it hardly looked real. “I will show you around. We can talk later.”

It was way past 9 pm by then. Lena had spent all day freaking out about her stupid decision at the same time she called to every bank know by men to collect the money to pay for Kara. God, she had to watch as Lex counted the money twice behind his desk with the largest smile she ever saw on him. It almost made her puke.

There was a lot of space to show but no personal objects, so it was a little quicker than Lena was hoping it would be. She hesitated for a second before opening the door to her room, but she eventually pushed the door open and waved around awkwardly as Kara walked past her to enter the space.

“This is a large bed,” Kara commented lowly and shyly, her eyes barely leaving the floor at all.

“You can have it!” Lena blurted out before she could stop herself. It made no sense, all of her things were already in this room. “I can take the other one.” The other room didn’t have a large bed or a large window that faced the rest of the city, or her clothes, or anything that belonged to her, but Kara liked the bed here.

Kara slowly tilted her head to the side until she could look up at Lena with a slight frown. “You won’t sleep here?” she asked.

“Why would I?” Despite the fact that she had already chosen that room two days ago when she first got there, but whatever.

“I’m to be your wife.”

The crude and submissive tone drew a dagger on her chest and Lena sighed heavily as she also entered the room finally. She didn’t dare to look back at Kara or touch her, but she stood by her side like a statue. “You don’t have to be my wife,” she started. “You don’t have to be anyone’s wife. You’re welcome to stay until I figure out a way to fix the mess my brother has made, but you don’t have to... be what he wants you to be.”

There was a long and tense silence that made Lena squirm in place. There was a second where Lena wondered if she should just walk away, but then the blonde turned around to face her with a sad small smile. “I don’t have much choice, do I?” Her eyes fell to the ring on her finger and, under her pale skin, a green glare shot up her veins, coming from her neck and up until it disappeared on her hairline.

Lena’s heart broke a bit more for her.

* * *

Lena left the shower in the bathroom located in the hallway holding a towel against her chest like it was a life jacket. She had forgotten to grab a bra on her heist to grab some clothing items from her old room after she insisted Kara took it and now she had to face the consequences of her own choices.

And there were a lot of choices she had to face.

Like the tall woman standing in her kitchen, for example.

Lena had never been accused of being dumb, but she was accused of being impulsive many times. She should get a grip on that.

Kara had found some canned vegetables and canned beans, and both pans with the heated foods were placed on the kitchen counter with two plates, two cups and two sets of cutlery resting by the side.

“You don’t have many things.”

Lena nodded as her eyes looked around to the heated food like it was a strange object. “I just moved in,” she replied distractedly.

“Oh.” There was a beat of silence while Lena slid in a tall stool. Kara immediately set herself into motion, grabbing a plate and filling it with food before placing it in front of Lena. “Do you want me to hang your towel?”

Shocked, the brunette looked down to see that she was still holding the brown material against her chest. She blushed a little too hard when she shook her head. “No, it’s okay.”

“Are you sure? I can do it.”

Lena’s eyes moved to the blonde’s face before she could stop herself. It was something she was truly avoiding to do because the last thing she wanted was to face the woman her brother was destroying the life of, so it was only then that she noticed how blue-ish kind of were Kara’s eyes. Distracted by the new information, she had to blink twice to get rid of the fog that clouded her thoughts.

“You don’t have to do things for me, it’s fine.”

“I’m to be your wife,” Kara repeated with only a small once of confusion. She handed Lena her fork and knife and set to serve herself.

“How long ago did you land on this planet?” Lena wondered out loud a bit harshly, but Kara didn’t seem to notice her tone.

“It was fifteen years ago. I was 13 Earth years at the time.”

“Okay, well, I don’t know where you got your information about marriage and all, but even fifteen years ago a woman wasn’t expected to serve their husbands like this.” Lena shook her head. “In 1900, sure, but we came a long way.”

Kara looked up from her plate, fork pushing a piece of kale from one side to another, and frowned at her. “I don’t get it.”

The brunette sighed and placed her forearms on the counter, leaning down. “You don’t have to do things for me, really. You don’t have to cook or clean after me.”

The alien looked as confused as ever. “But you bought me.”

“I didn’t buy you to be a maid, Kara.” Lena sighed and pushed her plate away. She didn’t taste it, but she could smell it and it smelled pretty awful. She wasn’t brave enough to eat it, to be honest. “I bought you because my brother put you in this mess and I couldn’t let any of those evil men take you away. I had every intention of letting you go once Lex walked away, but I guess I should have predicted the tracker or the Kryptonite ring.”

“Oh.”

And because she looked so confused and so adorable while being so, Lena had to ask a question back. “Did you - Did you thought I was going to...?” A hand waved pointing between them.

Kara’s face became so red that, for a brief scaring second, Lena thought she was about to pass out. Instead, the blonde looked down to her plate and stuffed a large bite of food on her mouth while mumbling something that Lena couldn’t distinguish. It was cute. Lena had to bit her bottom lip to stop a smile because it felt wrong to smile around a woman who was being held hostage by her brother.

Once they were done eating – and Lena forced herself to eat some of the food because Kara made it for her – Lena insisted she could clean around the kitchen since Kara had cooked. She, not so playfully, said they could exchange the chores the next day. So, as she washed the dishes, Kara tried to make herself comfortable in her living room.

She could only imagine how strange that must be to the woman. To try to make yourself feel at home in a place with so little personality, with someone she knew for less than two hours. She didn’t even turn the TV on, she just set stiffly on the end of the sofa with hands crossed on her knees.

After she put the last cup away, Lena turned around to face her, drying her hand in a dishrag before throwing it somewhere behind her. “Are you tired?”

Kara shrugged. “I had plenty of rest in the last weeks.”

The quick glance she threw to her hand was enough to tip Lena of what she meant. Cursing Lex and every Luthor that walked on Earth before her, Lena set down on the couch in a far distance of the other woman. “How long – For how long did he hold you hostage?”

“I’m not sure,” Kara sighed. “I lost track of time, to be honest. What day is it?”

“May 27th.”

The blonde whistled at the information. “That would be three weeks, then.”

Three weeks.

Lena was surprised she only had two bruises on her body if Lex kept her for three weeks. If he had her for that long, he must have Superman for even more time and the thought was a little terrifying.

“I noticed some books around.” Kara pointed at the rack where Lena had left a stack of books behind. “Do you read much?”

The brunette nodded slowly. “I do, yes. As often as I can.” The pause that followed was still weird and heavy, but Lena was starting to get used to it by now. “Do you?”

Kara nodded. “I try to do it for fun sometimes. I’m a freelance writer, so I have to read a lot.”

“Well,” Lena waved a hand around. “Feel free to pick anything to read. I didn’t have time to find a place for all the books, so they’re all around the place, as you can see.”

Kara’s cheeks turned red suddenly and she looked down at her hands. “I, uh – I can’t see too much now.”

“You can’t – What?”

The blonde shrugged. “The Kryptonite. It acts differently to everyone and, the longest you get exposed to it, more effects will infringe you. For me, one of the things is that my vision gets affected. It’s like... It’s like if you need glasses.”

Lena nodded slowly as she tried to wrap her mind around everything. To be fair, it was too much going on in one single day to understand all of it like that. “Would using glasses help you in any way?”

“I – I don’t know. I never... The only time I was exposed to it, it wasn’t for long enough that I couldn’t... I never...” Since the words seemed to fail her, Kara dropped her shoulders and sighed hard. “I don’t know,” she repeated.

The brunette nodded again. “We can get you some glasses tomorrow and see if it works. I need to go out to buy a few things anyway.”

“Do you – “ Kara flicked her tongue across her lips nervously. “Do you have a job?”

“I’m supposed to start working at L-Corp on Monday, to be honest.” Lena wasn’t sure she would be able to do so after seeing what Lex had become and what he was doing to their father’s company. When Lex called out to offer her a spot, it seemed like a terrible idea, but a bearable one. Now it was just bad. “We should go to bed.”

The first thing Lena noticed was how hard Kara’s spine went even if she tried to use a soft tone. A Luthor could never be soft, Lena knew that, but she could try. Her eyes seemed drawn to watch the blonde and she couldn’t rip them away, especially when the woman looked down at her lap, fingers twisting nervously together, a deep shade of red coloring her cheeks.

Lena was a smart woman, she knew where Kara’s mind had traveled and she knew she had to fix this quick. “Not like that!” Maybe she shouldn’t have shouted it because the blonde jumped in surprise and her wide blue eyes turned to look at her in fear. Lena had to take a deep breath to calm herself down as she mentally kicked her own ass for being so regardless. “I meant... It’s late and you’re probably tired after everything that happened. We should rest.”

Kara relaxed slightly, just enough for her eyes to soften a little, and she slowly nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay, yes. Okay.” As nervous as she never felt before, Lena stood up after clapping her hands once. She had never clapped like that before.

She had also never bought a wife before, so that was also new.

Not sure what else she could say, Lena turned around and started walking down the hall as she tried to discreetly dry her hands on her thighs. She heard when Kara started to follow her and she cleaned her throat to be able to speak again.

“The blankets are inside the closet and I placed a toothbrush for you in the bathroom.”

“Thank you,” Kara’s voice was small and shy, and Lena had to force herself not to turn around to look at her. She was probably looking sad and defeated, Lena couldn’t see that.

Lena stopped in front of a door and opened it. “Well, I...” She stopped when she heard a loud scared gasp behind her. The brunette turned around, holding a fluffy blanket in one of her hands, and noticed how Kara had pushed herself back until she was stuck against the wall, hands flat in the surface and wide eyes as she stared at the small storage closet in the hallway. Lena looked back at it, confused, and her eyes searched around to see what might have caused such reaction.

“You – You don’t have to do it!” Kara said, cowed against the wall. “I – I won’t try to – I really...”

While Kara struggled to find the right words, Lena’s eyes finally spotted the chains Lex had handed her before and she immediately closed the door to block the view from it. She turned around with both hands raised in the air a little weirdly because of the blanket, so she let it fall to her feet to show her palms at the same time she took a single step back to add more distance between them.

“No, no, no!” Lena shook her head furiously. “I was just grabbing a blanket! I would never... See, just a blanket.” To add to her point, Lena quicked the soft material with her tiptoes and the thing rolled out until it opened in front of them a little pathetically. They were both staring at it and Lena was grateful so she wouldn’t have to look at the blue broken eyes. “I would never do that, Kara. I – I know it might be hard to believe it considering everything that is happening to you right now, but I won’t hurt you.”

She didn’t dare to glance at the other woman, so she had no idea if her words had any positive effects on Kara. Instead, she bent down to grab the blanket and started to retreat towards the guest room, which was now her room. “If you need anything, I’m going to be here. You can call me, or knock, or – or just call. Yes, I will be here. Good night.”

Without looking up, she slid inside her room and closed the door a bit too hard. Once she was safely alone inside the even emptier room, Lena sighed and rest her forehead against the white wooden door. The hand that wasn’t holding the blanket raised to touch the cold surface close to her face and she resisted the urge to hit her head against it until she passed out.

Behind her, there was nothing but a bed with white sheets and a single pillow without a pillowcase, but she wouldn’t dare get out to grab one either. There was a large wardrobe occupying the wall in front of the bed and she knew it was empty as it could be, and a single bedside table between the bed and the wall. It wasn’t a suite and the window only allowed her a view from the building across the street. Taking the change of clothing she had grabbed before that was resting on the foot of the bed, there was nothing else there and she regretted not grabbing a book either.

Lena sighed again before pushing herself from the door to face the rest of the room. The change of clothing was placed on the too big wardrobe and she spread the blanket on the bed with another sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lex: Having fun with your wife?  
> Lena: I don't even know what to do with a wife!


	3. Stepping on eggs... fun!

Lena was never called dumb, but she was called forgetful.

It was ridiculous, she was ridiculous, Lena thought as she tried to silently push the door open. She peeked her head inside first, noting how dark the room was and trying to see if Kara was already awake. Her eyes fell in the figure on the bed and she couldn’t help the blush that spread over her cheeks when she saw the blonde lying there.

All she needed was a bra. That’s all.

She could live without one inside her house, even if it was weird to do so when someone else was around – and she swears to God Kara glanced down a couple of times during dinner, but she was choosing to ignore that for now. But she refused to leave her apartment without a bra, especially if they were going to walk around town and be seen by other people. So she needed to grab a bra, something she should have done last night before going to bed, but after their weird talk and her desperate attempts to defend herself, the idea totally slip out of her mind and she went to sleep without doing so.

So now she was on a mission to sneak inside her old room, tiptoe around until she reached her closet, take a bra and run away as fast as she could without making a noise.

There was a time where Lena wouldn’t give a shit about what anyone might think or say, maybe in England she would just walk inside like she owned the place – which she did, come to think about it – and grab what she wanted without a care in the world. However, there was something about Kara that made her stop and take things into consideration. She didn’t want to dwell too much into it to know if it was rather the fact that her brother captured her and sold her like a slave, or if it was just something in Kara, so Lena was not going to think about that.

Instead, she was going to sneak inside like a robber. Perfect.

Lena glanced at the bed one last time before she pushed the door open just enough for her to slip inside, squeezing her body on the door frame, before she walked quickly to the closet located to her right. She was used to walking on her tiptoes thanks to a life using heels, so it wasn’t hard for her to do it, and the closet doors were wide open, which made things even easier to her. The brunette just walked to the draws she had put her lingerie on and opened it as quietly as she could. There was a low, really quiet scratching sound of the wood and the metal, but she didn’t have to open all of it. As soon as she saw a bra, she pulled it out and closed the draw again.

Thankfully, it was a good one.

Lena pressed the red item against her chest and turned around to make her way back, still on her tiptoes, only to have her soul ripped out of her body when she faced the bed again. Kara was clearly awake now, sitting against the headboard with a blanket tightly around herself, one hand clenching around the material against her chest and the other one tugging the thing under her legs.

Lena jumped almost five feet in the air, a loud “Jesus!” escaping her lips as her eyes closed instantly and her hands flew to cover her mouth. The bra fell to her feet, but she barely took notice of it as one hand lowered to press against her chest in a weak attempt to calm her racing heart.

“Sorry!” she exclaimed, eyes roaming every surface around her so she didn’t have to look at the blonde on the bed. “Sorry, I just needed to grab... something.” The last word was only a whisper and Lena was sure she was as red as the bra she had rescued, which made her remember... She bent down to grab it from the floor and tried to, not so subtly, hide it behind her back.

Kara’s blue eyes kept staring at her, wide and scared, hands still holding the blanket like armor and Lena felt truly bad. For someone who was expecting Lena to force her to share a bed and then who thought Lena was going to chain her as her brother did, she honestly couldn’t have thought that Lena sneaking inside her bedroom was a good thing either.

Another thing Lena has done wrong.

Add that to the long list since she met Kara.

Perfect.

The brunette sighed and tried to relax so the other woman could do too. “I’m sorry. I was going to change, but I forgot to take a bra last night. I didn’t want to wake you up.”

Talking about going to change, Lena remembered she was still using her nightgown that basically consisted of a large shirt that fell to her knees and boyshorts, that was thankfully hidden by the shirt. She blushed even harder as she looked down at her own body. The whole outfit wasn’t helping her side. But, to be fair, neither did the sneaking in.

“This was your bedroom.” It wasn’t a question and Kara didn’t seem confused, so Lena didn’t reply to it. Instead, she chose to wait and see what would happen. “Why did you let me sleep here?”

Lena shrugged, trying not to blush harder and failing miserably. “I, uh – I will go change and – Yeah.” She threw her thumb over her shoulder towards the bedroom door and offered what she hoped was a friendly smile. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“I wasn’t sleeping,” Kara confessed in a small voice.

Which made things creepier, Lena almost shrank into herself. Kara was awake the whole time she tried to sneak inside her bedroom like a maniac creep, perfect. She sighed as she opened her mouth to say something, anything that could happen her case, but there was nothing she could think that would make things better. Especially when her eyes took a glimpse of the green on Kara’s finger and the gold around her wrist.

Not sure what she could do, Lena nodded and walked away while clenching the bra between her hands. She closed the door behind her and ran to the bathroom on the hallway in a not dignified way, but, honestly, there was no one else around to see it. Once inside, Lena closed the door and locked it before placing both hands on the cold counter, eyes searching her face in the mirror.

“You’re cursed, Luthor,” she whispered angrily to herself before peeling away her clothes to change.

* * *

When she left, almost an hour later, Lena looked a completely different person and she was aware of it.

The oversized shirt was gone, her bed hair was also gone, replaced by a neat style, her face was covered by enough make-up that she could blush as much as she wanted now and her feet had already found their way to one of her heels. She had chosen a tight simple black to use, that stopped just above her knees, and the dark lipstick she chose only add to it.

She made a quick stop in her bedroom to grab her phone so she could start sending texts and emails and made her way to the kitchen.

Her kitchen wasn’t empty as she expected, that was the only problem.

Lena stopped short on her tracks, barely able to hold her phone, as her eyes took on the vision in front of her. Kara had her back turned to her as she fried something on the stove with so much energy that Lena was worried she might break something. The coffee machine located on the counter on the corner was spilling away some fresh coffee in a large mug and there was a pack of biscuits on the table.

“You don’t have to do it.” Kara jumped so high that the pan made a sickening noise when it hit the stove again. “Sorry!” Lena quickly said as she approached in large steps before she forced herself to stop.

The blonde looked over her shoulder with a shy smile and a red share coloring her cheeks. “It’s okay. I’m just... not used to be taken by surprise.” Her head turned again and she focused on the task in hands. “Guess I always trusted my powers too much.” She didn’t elaborate and Lena wasn’t comfortable in asking any questions, so they remained in silence for a few seconds. “Good morning,” Kara shyly said in the end.

Lena couldn’t help but smile a little at that. She put her phone down on the table, which was located between the kitchen and the living room, and finished making her way inside until she reached the coffee machine. “Good morning.”

“I found the manual of this thing, hope it worked.”

Lena took the mug out and took a sip of the black coffee carefully. The taste of last night dinner was still burning on her tongue and she was a little afraid, sue her. But the coffee tasted like coffee, or how she expected her coffee to taste, dark and bitter, and she hummed in appreciation as her lips tsked. “It did, thank you.”

Kara’s shoulders relaxed visibly and she smiled at Lena with a slightly bigger curve on her lips. For some reason, it made Lena blush. “I’m making scrambled eggs. That was the only thing in your fridge beside wine.”

“Yeah,” Lena chuckled nervously, her nails scratching the back of her neck for a second. “We can stop by the supermarket before we head back here.” She hated doing the chores, but she wasn’t going to make Kara live out of wine and protein bars as she did.

She watched as she sipped her coffee while Kara placed the eggs in two plates after turning the heat out. There was a small mountain in one of the plates and a large mountain in the other one, so Lena figured there were no eggs left if she opened her fridge to take a look. Kara took both plates back to the table and ran her hands on her jeans for a second before she dared to look up back at Lena.

Now she had to move, Lena realized. She pushed herself from the counter, where she was leaning against, and started making the way to the table. She noticed Kara hadn’t made a specific place for any of them to sit on, so Lena pulled one of the chairs from the head place and set down carefully so she wouldn’t spill her coffee. Once she was set, Kara put the plate with fewer eggs in front of her and a fork, before choosing to seat on the opposite side of the table. Like, across from Lena, on the other side, very far away.

Uncomfortable, Lena cleared her throat as her fork started to stab some of the eggs. “You didn’t have to do it,” she repeated.

Kara looked up briefly and shrugged before pushing a fork filled with eggs inside her mouth. Knowing she couldn’t push it away forever, Lena decided to be brave and taste the breakfast Kara so carefully put together. She brought the fork to her mouth and waited for the thing to kill her, but it just tasted like eggs and salt. She sighed almost in relief and took another bite. By the time she looked up again, half of Kara’s food was gone and Lena’s eyes almost fell from her face in shock.

“I meant what I said yesterday,” Lena spoke softly behind her mug, eyes avoiding Kara one more time. “You don’t have to be my wife. You’re _not_ my wife.”

“You bought me to be that,” Kara replied in light confusion. “And you spent a lot of money to do so.”

Yep, she did. A lot of fucking money. Lena sighed and pushed her eggs around with her fork. “I only did that so no one else could have you, I told you that.” It didn’t sound much better, so Lena added quickly: “What I meant is that I couldn’t let my brother sell you to one of those vile, despicable, wicked, dirty men. I truly didn’t buy you to be my wife.” She frowned a second later. “Can we stop using that word?”

Kara looked up without the brunette’s acknowledge and their eyes met. “But you did _buy_ me.”

“Yes, but... It sounds so...” Lena waved a hand around as she tried to find the right word, but once again her brain refused to work.

“Vile?” Kara offered in a neutral tone. “Despicable? Wicked? Dirty?”

The other woman sighed sadly. “Yes, that.” Lena looked down at her plate again and stabbed more of her eggs with more strength than she had to. “You’re not something that can be bought. You’re made of flesh, and meat, and bones just like me.”

The silence that followed her statement had to be the weirdest they ever had. Lena dared to glance up for a second and noticed that Kara was staring at her behind long eyelashes with a curious look. Finally, the blonde said: “You don’t sound like your brother.”

Lena scoffed. “I like to think I’m nothing like him.”

“So what were you doing in that meeting with everyone else?”

Oh.

Lena didn’t realize, despite all her smartness, that she still hadn’t given Kara any reason to trust her. She said she wasn’t going to hurt her, she said a lot of things, but she was still the one who participated of an auction that sold out a woman, she was still the one who literally bought her and she was still the sister of the man who locked her up in the first place. Kara was probably expecting Lena to flip a table and start acting like Lex at any second now and that perspective sent a chill down her spine and bile to raise to her mouth.

She swallowed hard and pushed her plate away so she could rest her elbows on the table. Lena tried to remain calm, but she had no idea how to defend herself to someone who had no reason to believe in her. “I was supposed to meet Lex for a meeting yesterday so we could discuss the details of my work here, but he wasn’t in his office when I got there. I knew about that auditorium and I assumed he was there since his secretary refused to tell me where he was, so I decided to invade.” She paused for a second. “I’m glad I did, even if I have my suspicions that was what Lex wanted since the beginning.”

Kara also pushed her dish away, the difference was that all of her eggs were gone. They would need more eggs. “Why?”

“I’m not sure yet.” Lena sighed. “What Lex did – What he’s doing – I – Kara, you need to understand I would never agree with anything like that. I’m not like Lex.” Blue eyes watched her closely from across the table and Lena felt the urge to say more. “I’m going to find a way to end this, I promise you. As soon as I find a way to take this tracker,” Kara’s hand twitched and they disappeared to under the table, “you can go back to your life.”

“I can’t go back to my life.” Kara seemed to be looking deeply into her soul. Was that possible? Could someone truly look at your soul and Lena was starting to hallucinate? “Not when Luthor Corp is fighting tooth and nail to get rid of every alien there is.”

“I didn’t mean...” Lena shook her head. “I wouldn’t ignore what’s going on. I came back because I know Lex is up to something, something dark and probably illegal, and I won’t turn my back to any of this.” In one swift move, the brunette got up from her chair and walked quite quickly until she was crouching in front of Kara. Her hands twitched and moved, but she decided she shouldn’t touch the other woman. To be honest, she wasn’t sure if the no touching was more beneficial to her than to Kara, but either way: no touching. “My family has done a lot of bad things and I intent of putting an end in all of this, but right now my main priority is you.”

“Me?” Kara’s voice faltered in the single word and Lena had to dig her nail in her palms to stop herself from reaching out for the blonde.

“Yes, you.”

“I did cost you 700 million dollars,” Kara whispered shyly, looking down at her hands and biting her bottom lip.

Lena smiled despite herself. “From my point of view, you are priceless, so I don’t care about the money I spent.” So maybe she only realized what she was about to say after she said it. She took notice of a deep red blush rising from Kara’s neck and coloring her cheeks, and she was sure she might look the same, so Lena decided to keep talking. “I will find a way to take this thing from you, then we will find a way to make you safe and then I will hunt down my brother like the motherfucker he is.”

* * *

Kara had to borrow one of her clothes so they could get out. When she showed up in the living room, timidly dragging her feet, Lena almost chocked around her second cup of coffee. Kara was using one of her jeans that barely reached her ankles, with ripped knees, and her hoodie from the University of Oxford that was, thankfully, big enough for her. In Lena, the hoodie was a little too large, it’s worth mentioning. Her feet were bare and she bumped the floor twice once she stopped walking.

Lena cleared her throat as she did her best to look away and to anywhere that wasn’t Kara. “We – We’re taking my car. It’s in, uh – It’s in the garage and – Well, we have to go there and – Get in the car.”

One hand on her waist and the other one around the cup of coffee, Lena dared to glance at the blonde from the corner of her eyes and, once again, she felt the air being knocked out of her. That was the first real smile she ever saw on the woman’s face and it was beautiful. It was delicate, it made her eyes narrow and crinkle at the sides, a small mark popping on her cheek under her left eye, her lips spreading wide, white teeth shining against her pink lips.

It was almost too much and Lena moved her eyes away and started walking so fast that she almost hit the coat hanger. “I think I might have a shoe you can wear, but they’re running shoes, hope you don’t mind.”

“No, it’s fine.” She had also never heard Kara sound like that either. Almost like she was holding back a giggle like she was honestly joyful.

Lena put her mug in the first flat surface she could find on her heist to go grab some old sneakers she had pushed to the back of the coat locker by the door. She pushed some moving boxes to the side – they still had her books – and kicked some other items to the side until she found the black shoe, that she promptly bent down to pick it up.

When she turned back around, Kara wasn’t there anymore. Her eyes quickly scanned the room and she noticed the blonde was just putting her dirty mug on the dishwasher. “I was going to-“ Deciding they didn’t have time to go over that discussion again, Lena shook her head. “Thank you. Here, you can wear those.”

“Where are we going?” Kara asked while she walked to take the offered shoes.

“Well, first we need to buy you vision.” The brunette joked with a wink, hand holding out the shoe for Kara to take it. It was maybe the wink or the smirk she allowed to turn the corner of her lips up, but Kara suddenly bumped her feet on the armchair standing on the way and tripped a couple of times before she was able to catch herself. “That just made my whole point,” Lena chuckled softly.

The blonde took the shoes with a hard blush and a shy smile. “Guess we all need to see things from a different angle sometimes.”

The phrasing was encrypted enough as it was and Kara’s smile also wasn’t helping her to think straight, so Lena only watched as Kara slipped into her shoes.

* * *

Kara chose a simple black frame for her glasses, despite the fact that Lena told her she could pick literally anything from the store. She even offered to take Kara somewhere else if the ones in there weren’t the ones she wanted, but the blonde insisted that was exactly the one she wanted. Even so, Lena asked her five times, just to be sure.

After that, Lena took her to buy some clothes and, once again, Kara settled with whatever the first store had to offer. Then, on their way back to the car, Lena heard a growling coming suspiciously from Kara’s stomach so she looked down at her watch before saying they should probably have lunch before going where she needed to go.

“Do you have any preference?” Lena asked as she left her parking space.

Kara bit her bottom lip before shrugging. “Not really.”

Sensing that it wasn’t entirely true, the brunette decided to push it a little more. “What’s your favorite food?” she asked in her best neutral tone, like she was just curious to know the answer even if she was already cataloging every restaurant in town.

The woman didn’t had to think too much about it and she sounded rather excited when she answered: “Pizza!”

It was so spontaneous and, to keep it real, so cute that Lena couldn’t help but giggle. “Is that so?” she teased.

Kara nodded frantically. “I also like potstickers. My sister and I used to have movie nights and we would have both.”

“You have a sister?” Lena asked after sharing a smile with the blonde.

Kara’s happy face slowly fell at the question and Lena wished she could kick herself for breaking her good mood. “I do. She’s not – She’s not like _me_.” Nervous, she threw a side glance at Lena as she fiddled with her fingers on her lap.

Not a subject they were willing to talk about yet, then. Lena sighed, turning the wheel in a green light. “I haven’t come to National City in years, but I know a restaurant around the area who serves potstickers. I don’t know about pizza, but we can order it tonight if you like.”

“Really?” And the absolute glee in Kara’s voice was enough to make Lena be sure of her decision.

And she wasn’t talking only about lunch.

* * *

“She’s a friend of mine,” Lena explained while they rode the elevator to the 10th floor. “We met in college and she’s the CFO of the Metropolis division. She’s in National City for some meetings, including the one were Lex is going to introduce me to the board.”

Kara nodded along but didn’t say a thing. The elevator doors opened and Lena sighed as she pushed herself from the wall she had leaned on, taking note how the blonde followed her a second later. She tried not to be bothered by how the other woman was walking one step behind her, but Lena made sure she was holding the door open for Kara to walk in first. The blonde threw her a shy smile and that was enough to make Lena go a deep shade of red under several layers of make-up.

Samantha was waiting for her leaned over the secretary desk and she opened a large smile once their eyes crossed. “Lena, I was waiting for-“ She stopped when she noticed her friend wasn’t alone, a frown slowly starting to form on her features. Maybe she saw something in Lena’s face, but the next thing she said was: “Come on, let’s get into my office.”

Lena followed her friend without a second thought, but she saw how Kara hesitated to do the same. She offered the woman a smile, trying to communicate with her that it was okay, and Kara finally walked with her, hands tugged deeply inside the pockets of her borrowed jeans. Sam was waiting for them to join her, arms crossed, leaned against her table.

“I was hoping the rumors were just that, rumors.”

Lena sighed heavily as she pulled the closest chair to sit on. Before she did, though, she looked over her shoulder to were Kara was standing awkwardly by the door, so she changed her mind and pointed for the blonde to take the seat instead. As a reward, she was blessed with a soft smile.

If you asked her, it was better than 700 million dollars. But if you were actually going to ask her, she wished she didn’t have to pay at all.

After Kara was settle, Lena moved to take the other chair, only then noticing how eagerly Sam’s eyes were following her every move. She knew Samantha Arias for almost a decade now and she knew she could trust her friend with her life, so she didn’t hesitate to scoff. “To be honest with you, I was surprised to wake up this morning and see I wasn’t dreaming or imagining things.”

Sam hummed distractedly, dark eyes scanning her face like she was studying every reaction she might have before she turned her glance towards Kara. “I have no idea how you got into this mess, the rumors weren’t specific beside saying Lena was about to get married, but I need to tell you this.” Lena opened her mouth to stop her friend from giving the poor woman a shovel talk or something, but Sam beat her to it. “She drinks too much coffee all day long and can’t sleep, but then she blames insomnia for staying up all night. Make her stop drinking coffee and she will be less grumpy.”

Lena rolled her eyes as the blonde tried to hold back a chuckle behind her hand. “Nice, Sam.”

Her friend shrugged. “As I said, I have no idea what is going on, but the girl still has some time to run.”

“I’m afraid it’s not possible,” Lena whispered and her sudden serious tone helped to sober Sam as well. “Lex is up to something, I have no idea what it is, but I need your help to figure it out.”

There was a long pause after her admission until Sam finally snorted. “You and your brother really need to learn how to keep your family feud between four walls.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: I'm your wife!  
> Lena: I didn't order a wife! I should have bought a TV


	4. My wife is a genius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, guys! I'm so surprised by the number of comments this fic got in only one day! I'm so happy you're enjoying it and thank you so much for everyone who took some time to leave me feedback! You guys are the best!

The thing about lying awake all night is that you can hear literally everything. And this is not a good thing, especially when you live in a place that not even your fridge makes a noise. That meant, Lena couldn't hear a thing while she lied awake staring at the ceiling.

It wouldn't be the first time she ever got insomnia, far from that in fact, but she never got used to the feeling of not being able to shut down her brain just enough so she could rest. Somehow she would always blame her family for that as well.

She had a long list, okay? She thought many times about separating them by categories, but college always got in the way so she had to drop the idea. But she could and there would be a lot of them.

In any way, insomnia was no stranger to her. What was stranger was the silence around her. In her apartment in Oxford, there was always noise. Either from the other residents of the building or the street under her, even her loud fridge was missed at that moment. Because in that gigantic penthouse over 40 floors above the ground, there was no sound to distract her from herself.

Scary how fast her mind could find reasons to hate herself when she couldn't look away.

It would also make no good to think about her family because that usually meant problems and the last thing she needed was to pile more things on her mind that would keep her awake. So she allowed her thoughts to travel to the other occupant of her apartment.

Funny how Kara showed up in her life for less than two days and already changed so much. For instance, Lena now had soda on her refrigerator. When did she ever buy soda in her entire life? And Fruit Loops! Lena had never tasted the colorful abomination, but somehow she left the supermarket with four boxes of those after Kara said they were her favorite.

Her favorite type of getting diabetes, Lena scoffed. It was unfair that Kara could eat anything and everything and her body would just... stay like that. And Lena asked, Kara does not work out. So how she manages to have so defined biceps was beyond her. She almost wished Kara had kept the jumpsuit because it definitely showed more of her strong arms, but the blonde looked so comfortable on her Oxford hoodie that Lena couldn't even complain.

And now, look, thinking someone has great arms isn't usually a problem. In her 25 years of life, Lena had found many arms attractive - to be honest, not that much - but the problem wasn't the arms and how they could probably very very easily lift a truck - or Lena, come to think about it. The problem laid on the fact that Lena was not supposed to be thinking about it.

Kara was quite literally her brother's prisoner. She was stuck with Lena until she figured out a way to free the alien from her brother's claws and she would probably love nothing more than run away from Lena and every Luthor as fast as she could - which could be pretty fast. So Lena felt really guilty for having those types of thoughts about her. Not only because of that, either! Kara was the sweetest girl she had ever met and she would be lucky enough if they were friends!

Which also seemed a little out of probability of happening, once again, considering the... delicate situation they were in.

Honestly, from all the things Lex could have done to taunt her, sending a stupidly gorgeous woman on her way and locking her there was the worse one. So much for being the hitch-

"Lena?"

"Jesus fuck!" Lena shouted rather loudly and in full panic, her body squirming on her bed, jumping almost to the ceiling.

"Sorry!"

The brunette closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down, counting the beats of her heart until she felt like she wasn't about to cry anymore. She hated to get scared. Lex used to do it for fun, his fun, when she was a kid and it always made her cry.

Come to think about it, she would love to be one of those people who's first reaction is to punch when they got scared. It would have been amazing to punch the smug grin from his stupid face. As it was, she was the jumpy-crying scared person.

"It's okay. I didn't hear you coming." Lena sighed as she pushed herself up to sit on the bed, back against the cold wall behind her. She should buy a headboard for that bed. "What's the problem?"

She could see the outlines of Kara's form standing at her door, barely lighted by the hallway lamp, but Lena could still see how nervous she looked. Hand clenching around the door handle, chewing her bottom lip and pushing her new glasses up her nose. Lena felt some sort of luck for not being able to distinguish her features in the dark because she would probably think the blonde looked too cute.

"I'm sorry to wake you."

"I was awake," Lena replied quickly. "It's okay."

Kara slowly nodded and the brunette watched as her head started to tilt, probably to avoid looking straight at Lena. "I, uh - I'm not feeling very well."

That got Lena's attention in a second and she jumped from the bed immediately, kicking the covers away and ignoring her half state of nudity as she walked to where Kara was standing, hands stretched like she was ready to grab a falling Kara. "What? What are you feeling? Are you sick? What-"

Kara let her hand slip from the handle to grab Lena's hand firmly. She was shaking a little, but so was the other woman, so they silently decided to ignore it for now. "I'm not sick. It's just..." She sighed, deeply, sadly and heartbroken, and Lena instantly squeezed the hand that had searched for her before. "It's the Kryptonite."

Lena's eyes bulged as the words sank on her brain. In complete and utter panic, she started pulling Kara towards her bed, where she put the woman down by pushing her lightly by the shoulders. "What?! Lex said it wasn't going to kill you! What are you feeling? Is it-"

"Lena." Kara's sudden soft tone brought Lena into a halt, mouth half forming another line of questions. The blonde took her hands from her shoulders and held it between them gently. "Calm down."

The other woman shook her head. "You just said-"

"I'm not dying," Kara interrupted again, this time with a much quiet tone.

"But you said-"

The blonde couldn't help but chuckle at the crude confusion in Lena's voice. She squeezed her hands tightly and shook her head slowly. "I'm not dying. I'm not feeling very well, but I suppose Lex didn't lie about the Kryptonite. It's not enough to kill me, but it doesn't mean I can't feel it."

"Oh." Lena's shoulders dropped visibly and she sounded less scared, even if still a little nervous. "What-What are you feeling?" Her eyes roamed the woman's body in search of any physical evidence, but all she could see was a light green shinning under her skin, so light she could barely notice.

Kara sighed. "Just... pain." She managed to sound so broken and helpless in that one single word that Lena could almost feel the pain herself.

She knew there was no amount of words, or a speech, or an elaborated explanation that could help her understand what Kara was going through and feeling at that moment, so she accepted the simples answer with a twitch in her heart. "I'm sorry my brother is doing this to you."

Mentioning Lex didn't seem the right choice when Kara flinched. "Not your fault."

Even if her voice was nothing but a whisper, Lena could still detect the doubt and fear behind her words and it made her even sadder.

Lex was truly an evil cunt, wasn't he? How sweet.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Kara shook her head once, her eyes glued at their joined hands and a deep frown on her brows. "Can I - Can I stay here?"

Lena looked over the blonde's shoulder to the untidy bed, definitely smaller than the one in the master room, the one pillow right in the middle and the empty coffee cup on the bedside table. "Sure." She smiled back at the blonde and squeezed her hands. "Make yourself comfortable, I will make you some tea." She was already at the door when a thought hit her. "You like tea, right?"

"With a lot of sugar," Kara replied, already pushing herself backward on the bed.

There, standing by the door, with barely any light coming from the hallway and lightening the room inside, Lena noticed how fast her heart was beating. She hadn't seen before because she was so worried about Kara's well being, but now that she had an extra second to look she saw that the blonde was using her hoodie again, but she apparently wasn't feeling that same amount of cold on her other half because she was using basketball shorts. They weren't ridiculously short - for better or for worse - but they also revealed a lot of skin.

Like... more skin than Lena was ready to see. Did she want to see? Yes. Was her brain capable of dealing with that? Clearly not.

Lena blinked twice, tapped her finger once against the door frame, then turned around like a demon was chasing her. Since she was trying to pretend there was no one else laying on her bed showing pale, toned legs that lasted days, Lena wasn’t sure if the giggles were only in her head or not.

* * *

“You shouldn’t drink coffee this late at night,” Kara commented as she took a little sip from her chamomile tea.

Lena, who was just sitting by her side, back against the wall, holding her second cup of coffee of the night, scoffed. “You shouldn’t listen to Samantha. She says things to make me look bad since we met.”

Kara snorted a quiet laugh, turning her head to the side so she could see the other woman. She was also sitting, the only pillow on the bed resting against her back so she wouldn’t be in direct contact with the cold wall behind her – on Lena’s insistence. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” Waving a hand, Lena took a mouthful of the bitter drink, letting the warmth and the very known taste to calm her nerves. It wasn’t the first time she had a pretty girl on her bed and it shouldn’t make her so nervous.

“Have you imagined someone like me before?”

“Huh?”

Sporting a side smile, the blonde explained: “You said you woke up today thinking I might be just your imagination. Do you spend too much time imagining people?”

Lena blushed hard, drinking more of her coffee and looking straight up to the doors of her empty wardrobe. She turned the lights on after she returned with the tea and the coffee so it didn’t felt so weird, but she was now regretting the decision because she had no make-up on and Kara could see how red her face had gone.

“I – Well, no, I have never...” She sighed, took another sip of her coffee, then stared off, smoldering in her own mortification.

“Did I made justice to your imagination?” She knew Kara was teasing, she could hear it on her tone and she could have seen her mischievous smirk if she dared to look to the side, but Lena was panicking too hard and too fast.

“No!” Her eyes snapped to Kara’s.

The blonde twisted her lips in a grimace and nodded once. “I’m sorry for being worse than you ever imagined.”

“Wha – No!” Lena shouted rather loudly when the blonde started to nod in sympathy. “You-You're not – You...” She would forever blame Lex for making her act like a fool. “You’re the prettiest girl I have ever seen!”

Not able to hold back anymore, Kara laughed, throwing her head back and all. “You certainly know how to make a girl feel special.”

“Doesn’t feel like it,” Lena muttered into her coffee, moving back to stare at the wardrobe in front of the bed like it was the most interesting thing in the world. It wasn’t, it was just white with a lot of doors, but she would never be able to look at the other woman again.

Shaking her head fondly and drinking more of her tea, Kara allowed her a moment to recover before speaking again. “I make you nervous.”

It wasn’t a question and Lena wouldn’t know how to answer if it was, so she kept in silence. Half of her coffee was already gone and she knew she wouldn’t be sleeping at all for the rest of the night, but the comfort the drink brought was very welcoming in that confusing time. Because that was it. Confusion. She was confused, that’s all.

“I saw the way you talked with your friend today,” Kara continued when she noticed the other woman wasn’t going to say anything. “You didn’t stutter or hesitated even for a second, but with me...” She didn’t need to finish and Lena was glad she chose not to. “I make you nervous.”

Being nervous, that was definitely she could add in the list of things that changed after Kara fell into her life. Lena was raised by Lillian Luthor, she was taught since she was a kid that stutter would only make her appear weak, would make people doubt you, and those were things that could never happen to a Luthor.

The problem was, she had no idea how not to be nervous around the other woman. Her brain just didn’t seem to work quite right.

“I’m sorry. It’s just news for me. I never had to interact with any of my brother’s prisoner,” she spatted a little too harshly.

But Kara didn’t look like she minded. She just hummed and nodded. “Does he keeps a lot of us?”

Lena sighed. “I’m not sure. I’m trying to find out. That’s why I came here.”

“That’s not the first time you said something like that. Where were you before?”

“England,” the brunette placed her empty mug in the bedside table and crossed her arms with a deep breath. “I graduated from MIT and then decided to take my second and third Ph.D. at Oxford.”

Kara whistled, eyes going wide. “Wow.”

“What?”

“You’re really smart.”

Lena huffed with an eye-roll. “To be fair, I would have to lose some score on my IQ to be called smart.”

Unable to stop herself, Kara leaned to bump her shoulder with Lena’s, a large smile on her lips. The brunette looked to her for a brief second, offering a smile back, before she looked away again, certain her face was flushing harder than before. “My wife is a genius.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, I went to England to run away from Lex and his madness, but I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I heard some rumors while I was there and then he called me to offer me a job. I just took the opportunity to come to investigate by myself.”

“Isn’t that a little dangerous? To investigate him alone? Can’t the police do something?”

“The police have more money in their pocket coming from Lex than from their paycheck. They won’t do a thing. And it might be dangerous, but I don’t care. It has to be done.”

Kara frowned, her hands clenching around her mug a little tighter. “What about your life?”

“What about the lives of everyone Lex is threatening right now?” Lena shrugged. “He’s putting a lot of people’s lives in danger, I can’t keep looking away like I was before. It’s not right.”

“Your life matters too,” Kara whispered.

“No really.” Lena chuckled, trying to show she was joking, even if the weight of her words was enough to kill the mood anyway.

Instead of putting out some sort of speech like Lena was waiting for, Kara sighed and mumbled around her tea. “We better not be still having this argument when we’re married.”

Another thing to add on her list: blush. Lena wasn’t used to blushing so hard and so frequently. To be honest, it was pissing her off a little bit.

Before she could reply, though, Kara’s hand moved to tap her forearm as a thought had just occurred at her. “When are we getting married?”

Lena chocked on her saliva and she had to clasp a hand on her mouth when a coughing fit started. Kara moved to pat her back in sympathy, trying to hide her smile by biting her bottom lip. “What?”

“That’s why I’m here, isn’t?”

“Kara, I already told you that you don’t have to-“

“We will see,” the blonde shrugged and drank more of her tea.

Lena shook her head. “No, this isn’t...”

“You’re really not like your brother, are you?” Kara’s tone had gone much softer, her voice barely a whisper, and when Lena dared to look at her again, blue eyes were watching her carefully like she was a puzzle.

Funny. The puzzle there was Kara, in her opinion.

“I like to think the only thing we share is our last name,” came her reply. “And maybe our hate for our mother.”

Kara nodded. “I thought... At first, I thought you were like him.”

Lena couldn’t and wouldn’t blame her for that. They had never met before, she had no reason to believe Lena was any different from the man who captured her. “Are you anything like your sister?” she decided to ask instead.

The blonde weighed the question for a couple of seconds, tilting her head to the side before she smiled. “A little, I guess. I’m adopted, obviously, but I looked up at Alex since the first day we met, even if she couldn’t bear me at the time. She taught me a lot of things.” The way her face lighted up and her features relaxed were enough to let Lena know she had some very good memories with her sister and it made her heart feel a little lighter. “And we both love our mom,” she added with a teasing smile.

Lena rolled her eyes. “Good for you. I heard it’s something that can happen.” She let Kara’s giggles die before speaking again. “When was the last time you spoke with them?”

“Who?”

“Your sister and your mother.”

“Oh,” Kara scratched the back of her neck for a second. “Right before Lex took me. I was... I was home when they came.”

“Lex invaded your house?” Lena’s eyes were as large as plates when she looked at the woman sitting by her side.

The blonde sighed. “Not him, he sent some men to do the job, but yes. I was having dinner with Eliza and they just... burst in.”

“What about your sister?”

“She doesn’t live there anymore. Alex left home for college, then she became a cop.” Kara shrugged. “I also left for college, but it lasted less than a year before I had to come back.”

“Why?”

“Lex.” Kara threw her a sad smile and she raised her legs until her knees were resting against her chest, shrinking on herself. “That’s when he launched the alien detective device and it wasn’t safe for me out there anymore. Not everyone wants me dead, but then Cadmus and then numerous other groups started to show up... It just wasn’t safe for me out there anymore. It’s not safe for any alien, to be honest. I had to finish college in a heist and started to write some articles at home to keep my mind busy, and that’s how my life was going for the last five years. Not very thrilling.”

Feeling the sting of tears in the back of her eyes and the thick lump forming on her throat, Lena reached out to take one of Kara’s hand on hers. “I will give your life back, I promise.”

Kara huffed lightly even if she was squeezing Lena’s hand on hers. “You can’t promise me that.”

Lena frowned. “You’re right. Then I promise you I will do everything I can and can’t to fix all of this mess. I will take Lex down and I will try to fix all the damage he has done, especially to you.” Her index finger found the bracelet on the woman’s wrist and she traced it up until she touched the ring on her finger, the one causing her unspeakable pain. “I will find a way to take this thing out, that I can promise.”

Kara studied her face for a minute, pondering her words. The stunning brunette with a cute accent at the end of the line was more blessing than a curse, she noticed, and she smiled wryly to herself. “I have never seen an uglier ring. You better give me a better one if you want to get married. I’m kind of a material girl.”

Lena couldn’t help but laugh. The first true laugh she gave since they met. Hell, the first real laugh she gave in probably a decade. Life was funny sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: How smart are you?  
> Lena: We ARe Not GEttiNG MaRRIed, Ma'AM!


	5. Buy, purchase or shop?

Lena had a complex, yet perfect, plan when she got back into the US.

Her mind kept wandering back to it as she watched Kara pouring hot water in two mugs. She could almost hear her mother’s voice in the back of her brain, trying to kill her dreams and keep her in line, but her mind was powerful and it always wandered around. It wandered to what her life might look like if she had stayed in England, to inverted streets, to tea Paradise, to gray clouds and thick air. It wandered to the list of people she was counting on to take Lex down, to the very few friends she had collected in her lifetime, to her flawless plan and how it had so quickly failed.

Then it wandered to the almost strange woman standing on her kitchen making her tea although she only ever drank coffee, to home-cooked meals that tasted like shit, to blonde hair that smelled like fresh oak, pale legs that lasted for days and toned arms that could lift her if she wanted.

Life was truly funny. It took her immaculate plan and threw it out of the window, then threw something else back at her. That woman. Funny, really.

Because she was supposed to be taking Lex down, but all she could think was of home-cooked meals that tasted like shit, blonde hair that smelled like fresh oak, pale legs that lasted for days and toned arms that could lift her if she wanted.

“Here,” Kara smiled as she placed one of the mugs in front of Lena. All of her mugs were simply white, all around her kitchen was too white, including the plates and the coffee machine, the only thing bringing life to the place was the blonde and her smile.

“Not that I don’t appreciate it, because I do, but I usually drink coffee in the morning.”

“You drank coffee at four in the morning,” Kara replied. “You can’t drink coffee like it’s water, it’s bad for you. Besides, it keeps you awake at night.”

Lena took a sip of the tea regardless of her complaint. It was so sweet that her stomach rolled almost painfully. She put the mug back down trying not to wince at the taste. “I told you not to listen to Sam.”

“Well, I can make you some coffee if you really want it, but I won’t stay up talking with you tonight.” It was a joke masked as a warning and their easy talk made Lena relax a little. It was nice to see they were getting along, despite the situation they were in.

“That’s fine. I’m already heading out.” Lena sighed and forced herself to drink half of her drink in two large gulps. She would be damned if she made Kara feel like her efforts weren’t appreciated. Then she slid from her stool and picked up her phone and key from the counter she left them before. “I will be back for lunch. I can stop by that restaurant we went to yesterday and bring something.”

“Where are you going?”

“I will talk with a friend again. You can... do whatever is that you do.” Lena waved her hand awkwardly around.

“Can’t I go with you?”

“I think it’s better if you don’t.” Lena shook her head as she slid her coat and boots on to get out. “Don’t worry, I will bring potstickers.”

* * *

Lena met Winn Scott Jr. in a Science fair in college. She was showing off her badass robot and Winn stopped by to talk to her about it. Well, he was trying to flirt, it was obvious since the beginning, but he was failing miserably until Lena gently told him that. After he dropped the act, they managed to talk like normal people and she found out he was actually really smart.

They talked a couple of times after that, but they got out of touch when she moved to England, so she felt a little bad for sneaking on his job like that. Especially because she had pulled the Luthor card to get in.

Winn looked at her with wide eyes and slacked jaws when she tapped him on the shoulder. “Do you have a minute?” But he promptly followed her to some empty meeting room.

“Lena! When did you come back?”

“A couple of days ago.” Lena handed him one of the cups of coffee from the Starbucks around the corner and sighed. Was it normal to feel bad for drinking coffee behind Kara’s back? She felt bad. She almost didn’t drink the coffee, but then she smelled it and it was stronger than her. “Listen, I’m afraid this isn’t a friendly visitation. I’m so sorry.”

“What is it?” He asked worriedly. “Is there a problem?”

“I’m a Luthor, when is there not a problem?” She tried to smile at him to put her friend more at ease. “I need to find a way to break a piece of jewelry that had been fortified with Kryptonite.”

“Krypto – Lena, what?” Winn shook his head fast and hard, a nervous chuckle escaping his throat. “Kryptonite? Why would you even have Kryptonite?”

“I can’t explain all of it to you,” Lena replied almost sadly. “It’s for the best if you know only what you really have to know. I’m only talking to you because I remember you mentioned you had this fascination over Superman and – “

“Not fascination, admiration.”

“ – I knew you might have some informations about Kryptonite that could help me.” They stared at each other for a couple of seconds, until Lena added shyly: “Please?”

Winn sighed and pulled a chair for him to seat on, knowing he would need it if that conversation was actually going to take place. He waited until Lena was seated also before asking: “What type of Kryptonite?”

“Type?”

“Yes. There are several types of Kryptonite and each one of them has a different effect.”

Lena nodded. “What are the types?”

“They’re named after the color they shine as.” Winn frowned. “Not very original.”

The woman held back a smile at his comment. “Green. It’s green Kryptonite.”

His eyes went wide again for a second before he could stop his reaction to the reveal. “It’s bad. Green Kryptonite basically makes the Kryptonian weaker, it removes their powers and it can actually kill. It’s not a good view. It’s usually pretty easy to manipulate, though, but if it was used to fortify some sort of material, I would assume some other things might be added to it to make the thing more indestructible. What is it?”

Lena hesitated for a second. “A ring.”

“What is this, an Horcrux?” He asked in surprise. “Are you hunting Voldemort or something?”

“No, I – “ Lena stopped suddenly and a large smile spread over her face. “Actually, yes, I am. Go figure.”

Confused by her encrypted answer, Winn chose to nod politely. “Right. Well, you can always use a laser or electric saw, and see if it works.”

“I can’t exactly do that. The ring is attached to someone’s finger.”

“Wait,” Winn leaned forward almost like he was about to hear the best story of his life. “Did you pull a Dumbledore move and slide the ring in?”

“Can we stop with the Harry Potter references?” Lena scoffed.

“Sorry.” Winn raised his hands in front of his face and leaned away again. “Anyway, you can just, you know, remove the ring.”

“I can’t.” Lena shook her head with a sigh. “It’s attached to a bracelet, that I also believe had been fortified with Kryptonite and God knows what else, and, before you tell me, I can’t open the bracelet either.”

“Well, in that way...” The man took another sip of his coffee as he looked away, clearly lost in thoughts for a minute or so. “I will need to think about it.”

“Of course, Winn, no problem. I’m sorry to bother you with this, but you’re also amazing with technology, I just thought you might know of something that could help me in this situation.”

“I’m happy to help, Lena, don’t worry.”

She nodded and offered him a friendly smile. “Can you tell me more about Kryptonite? I didn’t know there was more than one type of it.”

“You didn’t know? Not to be rude, but your brother was friends with Superman.”

Lena rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “That’s exactly the reason why I pushed everything related to that away from me. I didn’t want to know a thing about any of that.”

Winn nodded in understanding. “What do you want to know?”

“How many types there is?”

“Hard to tell. We know about 18 different types until know.”

“Eighteen?!”

“Yep,” he shook his head. “Pretty insane.” Inspired by the pure curiosity on his friend’s eyes and her open posture, Winn leaned over again with a smile. “The most dangerous one is green, red, black and gold. Red Kryptonite affects Kryptonians on a psychological level. It makes them... evil, in a way. It’s really bad, but also rare to find. The Black Kryptonite creates clones, but evil clones, so it can also be really bad. And the Gold one is almost like the Green, but it just takes their power permanently. It doesn’t kill, though.”

“Jesus,” Lena hissed, clearly impressed by all the new information. “That’s dark.”

“It is, yes. Superman had only got in touch with the green Kryptonite, though.” Winn shrugged. “Do you want me to tell you about Pink Kryptonite?”

“Pink Kryptonite?” Lena arched one eyebrow at him and his smug voice.

He nodded with a large smile. “It makes them gay.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

* * *

Lena bought extra potstickers to make it up for her crime. You know, for drinking coffee even though Kara told her not to.

She was never married before, but it was certainly looking like one.

She chuckled to herself as she pushed the door open, glad to remove her boots and coat. “I’m back!” Lena announced happily. “And I have enough potstickers to feed, well, you.”

Her laugh died on her throat when she rounded the entry hall and came face to face with Lex. He was sitting on her couch, one leg crossed over the other, arms spread wide along the back, a large grin on his stupid face. Her eyes quickly scanned the room in search of Kara and she relaxed a little when she noticed the woman was sitting in the armchair opposite to him. Taking the nervous smile she threw at Lena, it didn’t seem like there was nothing wrong with her, so Lena allowed her poker face back in place and turned to look back at her brother.

“I didn’t know we would have company for lunch.”

He laughed loudly and fake. “I won’t bother you for long, don’t worry! I just wanted to see how the lovebirds were going.” His dark emotionless eyes went from her to Kara, then back at her as his smile grew wider.

Lena didn’t like the way he was looking at the other woman, she didn’t like it at all. So she put the take-out box on the closest flat surface and walked towards Kara, eyes never leaving Lex’s face as she tried to understand exactly what he wanted from them. Once she reached the blonde, she stopped beside the armchair and placed her hand on Kara’s shoulder in an attempt to help calm her down. She could see how nervous the woman was and she couldn’t blame her for that.

“That’s sweet of you,” Lena replied nonchalantly.

It only made him look smugger. “I was also wondering if you need any help to plan the wedding.”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“You sure? Mother knows some really good florist you could talk to.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“I will send you a list.”

They back and forth bickering ended with Lena pursing her lips together and Lex spreading his smile to a ridiculous length. They kept staring at each other, almost daring the other to break first, until Lex moved suddenly, causing Kara to jump a little on her seat. He hit his thighs with his hands twice before getting up in a jump.

“Well, that was fun, but I have to go back to work. I can’t wait to have you around the office, Lena, it’s going to be amazing.” He walked towards the door, thankfully not trying to touch any of them on his way out. “Have a nice day, lady and alien.”

The door closed behind him like a bomb in the quiet space. Lena waited five seconds, just to be sure he wasn’t coming back, before she let go of the breath she was holding, shoulders slumping forward. “Stupid jerk,” she breathed under her breath before looking down at Kara. “Are you okay? Was he here for too long before I came in?”

The blonde glanced up at her with watery eyes and a weak smile that spoke volumes. “No. You got just in time.”

* * *

Lena gasped loudly, chopsticks falling back into her plate, and her eyes snapped at Kara in a mild panic. The blonde was also looking at her, clearly scared by her sudden outburst, potsticker halfway to her mouth.

“Oh my God! Kara, I’m so sorry!”

“Wha-“

Lena slid from her chair, almost knocking the table on her heist to get up and run to where she had left her belongings when she entered. Kara watched her go with a curious look before she took a bit out of her food, chewing slowly as her eyes found Lena coming back with her phone in hand.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t even think about it and I’m feeling so bad right now! Jesus, what an idiot!”

“Lena...”

“It was so stupid of me! The thought didn’t even cross my mind! Can you believe it?” She set back into her chair, tapping on her phone and waving one hand around. “Why didn’t you ask me?”

Kara frowned and put down her chopsticks with the half-eaten potsticker. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh,” Lena looked up as she slid her phone towards Kara, pushing it with the tip of her fingers until it was in right in between them. Kara was sitting across from her again, on the opposite side of the table, one in each head of the table, and she could barely make half of the way with the phone. “I just thought you might want to call your family. I didn’t even think about it before, but I guess you would like to do it.”

Kara’s eyes suddenly filled with tears and, for a scary second, Lena thought she might have done the wrong thing. But then the blonde reached over to grab her phone, immediately typing away on it, and she knew she had done something good. At least one thing.

She tried not to pay attention as Kara pressed the phone against her ear and started to bite into her nails with a nervous look on her face. Lena picked up her chopsticks again and tried to chew on her food, pretending she wasn’t able to hear everything, but then there was a gasp across the table and she looked up before she could stop herself.

“Mom?!”

Kara pressed a hand against her mouth, eyes closed to stop the tears, and Lena swallowed nothing at the crude emotion she could see in full display in front of her. Before she could even react, Kara pushed her chair back and got up, quickly making her way out of the room to have more privacy.

Now alone, Lena looked back down at her plate, to the empty containers of take-out food around her, then she put down her chopsticks and took a sip of the water in front of her, not sure what to do with herself.

* * *

“Thank you,” Kara whispered later that same day. “I didn’t tell them where I am, I’m not sure it’s safe for them to know and I don’t want anyone else in danger.”

Lena had found a comfortable spot on the couch where she could read her book and still feel the breeze coming from the open balcony door, and she had been there for the past two hours or so. Kara had joined her after talking on the phone for almost an hour, quietly handing her cellphone back and sitting on the complete opposite side of the couch, legs tugged underneath herself.

She had obviously cried if her puffy red eyes and swollen face were any indications, and she wasn’t in the mood to talk either because she immediately turned her face to look outside, resting her chin on her palm. So Lena had raised her book again and returned to her reading, trying hard not to stare at the woman who had turned her life upside down.

To be fair, she could be accused of turning Kara’s life as well.

“I’m sorry I didn’t offer you my phone before. I will order you one first thing in the morning, I promise.” She turned the page on her book, even if she had no idea what she had read before. “You can ask me anything, Kara, I hope you know that.”

There was a beat of silence and it was a little more awkward than any of the other times before, which meant a lot. Finally, without looking at her or moving at all, Kara whispered: “When are we getting married?”

Lena dropped the book on her lap with a deep sigh. She was starting to get a little annoyed by that conversation, to be honest. “We’re not getting...”

“You bought me to...”

“I know why I bought you, Kara, I was there. And I already asked you to stop using that word.”

The next move the woman pulled was so scary that Lena gulped. Kara slowly turned her head so she could face Lena again, her eyes were void of any emotion despite being injected in red of her crying, and her jaw was set so strongly that she could have probably cracked a nutt.

“What other words there is to use for this?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “Do you prefer ‘purchase’? Or maybe ‘shop’. Is that more of your liking?”

“Kara...” Lena shook her head. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Yes, well, maybe you should answer my question then.”

Lena’s eyes ran through her face for long seconds, studying every line and curve, before she met blue orbs and sighed again. “We’re not getting married.”

Kara’s face, if possible, fell at the revelation. “You b-“

“If you say it again, I swear to God, Kara.” Lena interrupted her more abruptly than she had intended to, but she didn’t back away from it either. She tapped the cover of her book with her thumb, feeling a little restless now that she was in her first confrontation with the other woman, and decided to just say things and see how that played out. “I’m trying to do good here, okay? I’m setting you free, not marrying you, despite the initial reason my brother decided to display you for.”

“But this is what your brother wants us to do.”

Lena scoffed. “Lex can go fuck himself for all I care.”

Kara tsked once, eyes roaming Lena up and down. “Easy for you to say.”

Sensing things were getting to spiral out of her control, Lena tried to take a deep breath to calm down. She picked up her book again in a weak attempt to occupy her mind and end the conversation at the same time. “You don’t understand.”

It was clearly the wrong thing to say because suddenly Kara had both feet flat on the ground, even if she hadn’t got up yet, hands clenching at the couch beneath her, eyes flaring at Lena like wildfire. “I don’t understand?” she repeated slowly and quietly. “And what exactly I don’t understand, Ms. _Luthor_?” The way she spat her last name out made Lena shiver. She had dropped her book again and was watching with large scared eyes as the other woman blow at her. “Do you want to explain it to me? The woman who was kidnapped from her own house, locked inside a room for three weeks and then sold out to a stranger to become their wife, do you want to explain it to her?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“ Lena held her hands up in an attempt to calm her down, but it showed no results and she also had no idea what she could say to fix this.

“You better find out what you meant,” Kara spatted as she pushed herself up.

With confused, sad, large eyes, Lena watched her go. Once the bedroom door slammed behind Kara, she looked down at her book and cursed. “Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lena: Can we pretend I didn't buy you?  
> Kara: Can we pretend the sky isn't blue?


	6. Big mouth, Luthor temper

Five times. That’s the number of times Lena wandered down the hall to Kara’s locked bedroom door and raised her hand to knock, only to give up in the last second.

She had no idea what to say other than sorry and she had already said that, so each time she should sigh, turn around and walk away. Lena tried to spend the day as quiet as she could, almost like she wasn’t there at all. As she walked around on her tiptoes, she took notice that Kara had occupied her time alone in the morning to organize her penthouse.

Her books were all taken from the boxes they had been transported on and were now on the bookcases, bookshelves, and rack. They were not organized the way she liked – in alphabetic order – but it hardly matters because Kara had taken her time to put them away for her. So what if she used a color scheme way of organizing them? She almost liked to know she had more blue book covers than green ones, it could be useful information in the future.

After seeing Kara had also put everything away in the kitchen, Lena decided she could always make some more research on technologies she could use to break Lex’s ring, so she walked back to her room to grab her laptop. There she noticed that Kara had put some extra bedsheets on top of her bed and another pillow she wasn’t sure where she had found at. It all just made her feel even worse.

But she still had no idea what to say and Kara still hadn’t open her door, so Lena took her laptop and pulled a chair to sit outside on the balcony to add some more space between them. To be honest, the open space also made her feel less claustrophobic, less trapped.

Winn had sent her an email with a couple of articles he thought might help and he also said he might have an idea he just needed to run with some people before he returned to her. Lena then decided to text Sam.

_‘What do you do when you make your fake spouse mad?’_

Her friend’s reply came almost ten minutes later and it made her sneer. _‘Dunno. There’s a reason why I never got married or fake married. What have you done?’_

Lena only wrote a _‘Big mouth, Luthor temper’_ back and pushed her phone away to go back to her research. She decided to deal with things the way she knew better. Dig herself into work and ignore the problem until it was gone. The Luthor way.

She might have been outside for an hour or ten, she couldn’t really tell, but she was pulled out of her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder. Lena jumped, almost knocking her laptop to the floor, and looked up with red cheeks and raised brows. Kara stared back down at her with a questioning look but didn’t say a thing as she lowered a plate to Lena’s sight.

The brunette looked around for a second, confirming that it was now dark outside, before taking the plate from the woman’s hand. “Thank you,” she whispered shyly.

Kara nodded, removed the hand from her shoulder and walked until she was leaning against the rack of the balcony. She was also holding a plate of her own, sporting only a fork with the other hand, but she had no problem holding it to take a bite of her food. Lena glanced down at her plate and frowned. She had no idea what that was supposed to be. It looked like spaghetti, but it didn’t at the same time. It was burned, she could tell, but she had no idea how someone could burn spaghetti. If that was spaghetti, that’s it.

Despite her suspicions, she stabbed the pile of food and pushed a mouthful of food on her mouth. She chewed on it slowly, the explosion of flavors being too much for her taste buds to crack down all at once. Lena wished she hadn’t drunk all the water she had brought with herself before, but, even so, she took another bite after swallowing the previous bite like it was a knife down her throat.

“Is dinner alright?” Kara asked suddenly, voice neutral, but a suspicious look on her face.

Lena smiled and lifted her plate and full fork in what she hoped was an assuring gesture. “Very good,” she lied. It wasn’t very good, it wasn’t even good. It tasted like an old sock who was left in the charcoal for a reason.

“Really?” Kara wondered. “I think it tastes like old socks,” she grunted, glancing down at her plate with a grimace.

There was a pause, then Lena laughed despite the awkward air around them. “I definitely enjoy you.”

Kara looked up and straight at her with one raised eyebrow. “You _enjoy_ me?”

“Your company,” Lena corrected a bit too fast, cheeks going a bit too red, looking down at her plate a bit too hard.

Another pause, then she heard the blonde sigh. “I know I can’t cook. I can taste the food, you know.”

“Yes, well...” Lena shrugged. “That means you’re just trying to kill me.”

Kara looked at her for a second, before she huffed a laugh while shaking her head. “Not very wifey material. Speaking of, when are we getting married?”

Lena’s elbow slipped from the arm support on her chair and her plate almost slipped from her hand, but she managed to hold it and got back to her previous position with only a tense chuckle. “You keep asking me that,” she pointed out with another weird chuckle.

“I know,” Kara replied. “It’s getting quite annoying having to repeat myself and get no answer.”

The brunette forced herself to look up and meet blue eyes, eyebrows raised almost to her hairline. “You can’t be serious.”

“But I am. I was taken from my house, my family, my life to be your wife. I think it’s fair I at least know when that’s going to happen.”

“What are you talking about?”

Kara scoffed, looking very much not like herself while doing so. “Can you just answer me already?”

Lena paused for a moment, considering everything and running Kara’s words through her mind before she leaned over to put her plate on the floor so she could cross her arms over her chest. “What did Lex told you?”

“It doesn’t matter. You’re the one who bought me for 700 million dollars and now sleeps in the guest room.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “You’re crazy. And the room has a good bed.”

“I-“ Whatever Kara was about to say, she gave up. Shaking her head, she sighed hard and pushed herself from the rack. She bends to take Lena’s plate from the floor and started to make her way to the kitchen, clearly as displeased by the conversation as the other woman was.

With a sigh of her own, Lena considered only going back to work and wait until Kara was calmer, but then she glanced at her phone and saw that Sam had texted her back.

_‘Act like a normal person for once and ignore whatever your mother ever told you.’_

For someone who was a mother herself, Sam knew how to throw shit at Lillian. Lena loved it about her friend.

She took a deep, long breath before getting up to follow Kara inside. Lena threw her laptop on the couch and crossed the room until she reached the kitchen. Kara was throwing food in the trash can and putting the dishes in the dishwasher a little harder than she had to.

“Do you know what you're asking me?” Lena started slowly. “What you’re asking of _yourself_?”

“You keep assuming I’m oblivious. Either that or you think I’m stupid.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid.”

“But you won’t marry me?”

Lena groaned and closed her eyes like she was trying to gather what was left of her patience. “What have Lex told you?”

Kara slammed the dishwasher door shut and turned around while crossing her arms. “That we _have_ to get married. So I’m going to ask again-“

“We _have_ to get married?”

“What a surprise, right?” Kara scoffed.

Lena sighed. “Kara, I’m sorry about all of this. I told you I’m going to find a way to fix this.”

“Really? How?”

“I don’t know how, yet.”

Traitorous tears started to fill Kara’s eyes and she swallowed hard a couple of times. “Sounds like a plan.”

The brunette also crossed her arms. “Look, I don't know what Lex told you but you’re safe here, okay? Even if it takes me fifty years to find a way, you will still be safe in my house.”

“Lex _invaded_ here today.”

“Yes, and I still don’t know what he told you, but I will make things right and then you can get the fuck out.”

Lena realized her mistake a second after the words escaped her mouth. It wasn’t exactly what she said, but how she said it. She did mean she was going to make things right and that Kara would be free to go back to her life then, but of course she couldn’t articulate it the way she wished to. Words were never her best quality.

Kara stared back at her with wide, wounded eyes, mouth handing a little bit open in what she assumed was in shock. She looked devastated, though by what Lena could only guess. “I was happy you were the one who bought me. I liked you, you seemed nice enough. I didn’t care that you’re a woman, I didn’t even care you’re Lex’s sister. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could mean something to you.” Unable to stand there and let Lena see her cry, Kara started marching back to her room in angry steps. “No need to worry, I won’t make the same mistake again and I will be out of your life soon.”

Lena only snapped out of her thoughts when the bedroom door slammed shut. She tried not to think much about it, but it appeared as the whole house shook with the strength of it.

So much for not being like her mother wished her to be.

* * *

Kara loves food.

That was one of the things Lena was able to gather about her in those two, almost three, days they had known each other.

She loves food and despite the Luthors, for which Lena couldn't blame her for.

So when Lena slid off her bed at four in the morning, she had made up her mind about a plan. The best way to get Kara to hear her was to bring food into the equation. And Lena is actually very good at equations, so she was confident she could pull out that one.

Tray in hand, Lena supported it with her hip and knocked softly on the bedroom door. There was a long pause and she was almost knocking again when she heard a muffled "it's open" coming from inside. She turned the knob and pushed the door open as quietly as she could, almost like the day she sneaked inside the room.

Kara was sitting on the bed, without her glasses, but her hair didn't have a curl out of place. There were dark bags under her eyes and Lena assumed she, just like herself, hadn't slept all night. Instantly feeling like a dick, Lena offered her a smile.

"I made you breakfast." She walked until she was close enough to put the try on top of the bed, beside Kara, then took a step back. "I'm trying to learn how to apologize with words."

Despite her poor attempt of saying she's sorry and the lack of Froot Loops in the tray, Kara smiled a little at her. Just a little, just enough to remind Lena what she was missing for being a stubborn jerk. "I guess I was wrong too," the blonde confessed. "It's not fair I push you to marry me anyway. I get that you didn't buy me with that purpose."

"Yeah, I didn't." Too startled by the woman's own apology, which she wasn't expecting at all, Lena couldn't say more than that.

Seeing her confusion, Kara's smile widened. "But, to be fair, I would be a good wife."

Hearing the joke and noticing how much more relaxed Kara looked, Lena allowed herself to take a breath of relief. She didn't ruin things, thankfully.

Lena chuckled. "I have no doubts." She nodded along. "Just have to stay away from the stove."

Kara rolled her eyes at the tease and grabbed the tray to put it on top of her legs. "Let's see if you can judge me at all."

The brunette watched as she took the first bite of the chocolate cake she had baked at, quite literally, four in the morning, but she wasn't truly interested in Kara's reaction to her food or baking skills. Instead, Lena sighed and moved to sit beside her, one foot still touching the ground. "I'm sorry for what I said. It came out completely wrong." Kara nodded but didn't answer her. "You’re welcome to stay as long as you want, I just assume you will want to get out as soon as possible. And I can't blame you for that."

"You shouldn't assume things."

Clearly chastised, Lena slowly nodded. "You're right, I shouldn't." Her green eyes flicked briefly to Kara's lips as she brought the cup of tea to her mouth to drink it and Lena blushed a little. "And, for what its worth, I like you too. Guess I could have saved someone way worse."

"You could have gotten someone who knows how to cook," Kara offered.

"Oh, where's the fun in that?" Lena waved one hand dismissively and threw her a smile.

Kara nodded. "Agree. You don't need anyone to cook for you, this is absolutely delicious."

The brunette's face flushed again and she made sure to look down at her lap to try to hide it. "Thank you."

"How did you learn it? I can't imagine Lillian Luthor being the one who taught you how to bake."

"I just learned. I watched our maid doing it and some of it stuck, I guess."

Kara nodded, finished chewing the last piece of her cake, then leaned over like she was about to tell a secret. "Your brain amazes me."

Feeling pride swell on her chest, Lena tried to brush it off with a scoff. "My brain isn't the only impressive thing about me."

She was talking about her ability to be so stubborn and stay up all night for days in a roll, but what Kara said next didn't fit the context at all. "I can see."

Blushing maybe a thousand shades of red all at once, Lena jumped from the bed with a nervous chuckle. "Well, there's more food in the kitchen. I couldn't bring all of it here, so..."

Instead of finishing her sentence, Lena turned around and basically ran away.

* * *

When Kara joined her in the kitchen, the woman was using baggy shorts and a t-shirt, feet bare against the cold tiles. Her face lighted up when she took in everything that was waiting for her at the table, from french toasts, to omelets, to three different types of cake and enough orange juice to satisfy a small army. Lena was already sitting in what they had silently agreed was her chair, newspaper spread in front of her and a half-full cup of coffee in her hand.

Instead of sitting in the other side of the table, as far as she could be, Kara pulled the chair by Lena’s right, back turned to the living room, and started to pile food on her plate. The brunette looked over the newspaper with one arched eyebrow but quickly ripped her eyes away when Kara offered her a smile. She was blushing, she could feel the blush and mortification, so Lena raised the paper until it was covering her face and hiding her flushed cheeks.

She waited until Kara had cleaned half of the table before speaking again. She put her mug down and reached out for a small box that was close to her left hand, carefully picking it up and handing it over at Kara. “I called some people and managed to have your phone delivered this morning.”

Meaning: she called Winn and made him go to a store first thing in the morning, but she paid for his breakfast and he seemed glad to be able to spend as much money as he wanted to buy the best cellphone he could find.

Kara’s eyes widened and she swallowed the mouthful of eggs as fast as she could in her heist to talk. “You didn’t have to!”

“I did have to, yes.” Lena shrugged and put the box down when the blonde refused to pick it. She used two fingers to slide if closer to the other woman and shrugged again. “Especially after being such a dick last night.”

Kara frowned deeply, blue eyes studying the box in front of her carefully. “I don’t understand. This must have cost a lot of money.”

“It’s the least I can do, really, after hurting your feelings yesterday,” Lena tried to explain, looking not only ashamed but also squirming on her seat. “I’m bad with words.”

Kara shook her head, still refusing to touch the black box. “Words don’t cost money, you know.”

“Maybe I could have bought some, if they did. It would have been very useful for someone like me.”

The blonde finally looked up, one eyebrow raised, and twisted lips. “You know the three magical words, right? Someone must have taught you. You could have just said you’re sorry.”

Lena allowed a slight depreciating smile to turn her lips up, but she looked quite amused at the same time. “I’m trying to learn. Maybe I will succeed sometime soon.”

“You _are_ smart,” Kara pointed out with a lightly teasing tone and her hand closed around the box to pick it up and bring it closer to herself. “I will pay you back for this, no complains.” As she slowly started to take the wrap away and slid the top of, Lena only watched with a small smile, knowing there was no point in starting a discussion over bills. “I’m sorry too, just to set the record straight. It took me a while, but I realize now that this isn’t exactly what you wanted for your life either and I have no right to demand things, especially something so serious like that. I guess I was a surprise to you as well.”

Lena nodded gently. “Can’t say I was expecting a wife to fall on my lap,” she agreed with a kind smile. Lena kept watching with eager eyes as Kara removed the phone from the box and started to turn it around to take a better look. “I can’t say I’m sorry you’re here either, though.” Blue eyes snapped up and their gaze met. A little nervous, Lena tried to smile again. “I wish we had met in some other circumstances.”

“Me too,” Kara’s smile was open and honest, just like her voice, and Lena bathed in that with a sigh of relief. Finally, after they shared a quiet laugh, Kara turned the phone on and took another bite of her now cold eggs. She didn’t mind, they still tasted really good. “You’re lucky I’m so forgetful, I barely remember what you told me.”

“Very lucky,” Lena agreed quietly, her voice barely a whisper, and eyes glued into crinkled eyes and a small mark on a left cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam: Try not to be so you  
> Lena: I'm trying not to be so me  
> Kara: Can you be more like you?  
> Lena: *brain shuts down*  
> Winn: *nerding in the distance*


	7. Surprise, people hate me

It was a Saturday and after lunch - that Lena prepared after banning Kara from the kitchen - they decided to take a walk around the block.

The sun did wonderful things to Kara’s weakened state, injecting some energy on her that was gone since Lex started to expose her to Kryptonite. Her skin started to look a little more bright and her shoulders seemed more relaxed, so Lena made a mental note to take her out every day, even if for just a few minutes.

They ended up in a park nearby and set on a bench for a while before Kara shyly said she was starting to get hungry. Lena took her to her favorite restaurant in town, Noonan’s, and watched with amused eyes as Kara inhaled three sticky buns before remembering she wasn’t alone.

“Sorry,” she whispered, reaching out for her drink to help send everything down her throat.

Lena crinkled her nose as the other woman drank the pumpkin spice latte – with extra foam and sprinkled cinnamon, no less. Feeling the sugar in her mouth even if she wasn’t the one drinking it, Lena reached for her coffee and took a sip of it. “That’s fine. I take that aliens need more food than humans.”

Kara shook her head. “Not all of us. Some, might. But Kryptonians really need more food to keep up.”

Lena nodded in understanding. “I can see that.”

The blonde looked up with a light blush on her cheeks and a grin on her lips. “I had people doubting my capacity to eat my entire life, Ms. Luthor. This isn’t new for me.”

Lena raised both hands up in surrender, holding her cup using her thumb and index finger, then chuckled softly. “You do you.”

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I might order a bagel. I love their chocolate tart, but it’s too much sugar for me.”

“They have chocolate tart?!”

Almost an hour later, Lena held the door open for Kara to step outside since the blonde was holding her milkshake like it was some precious finding she had to care for her life. She saw Kara eat sticky buns, chocolate tarts, bagels and cheesecake like they meant nothing, and she had to say she was more than just a little impressed by it. Especially when Kara shyly asked if she could get a milkshake to go. For which Lena promptly said that of course, she could.

“I loved here,” Kara commented once they started walking down the sidewalk to go back to Lena’s penthouse.

Lena smiled at her. “Good to know. Around 7 pm they open as a bar, they also have some pretty great drinks.”

“We could come here for that one day. I noticed you like your alcohol.” It had a teasing ring on her voice and she glanced at Lena sideways while sucking on the straw of her milkshake. The brunette rolled her eyes, hands stuffed inside the pockets of her coat. “I mean, I took things from your moving boxes and I saw more scotch and whiskey than one single person should have.”

“Maybe I was feeling I was getting married and would need it,” Lena replied with a shrug.

Kara gasped in faked shock and leaned to bump her shoulder with Lena’s. The woman strumbled for a second, taking a step to the side before Kara linked their arms together to stop her from bumping in the person coming from the other direction. The blonde, though, didn’t let her go even after she had gained back her balance, and Lena felt her face starting to heat up.

“Mean,” Kara pouted.

Lena shrugged. “I have to thank you, by the way, for taking things out of the boxes. You didn’t have to.”

“Well, I had nothing else to do and, to be fair, I doubt you would do it anytime soon.”

At the prospect of being teased again, the brunette rolled her eyes. “Maybe I like my things in boxes.”

“Oh, really?” Kara glanced at her again, a sparkle in her eyes.

“Why not? Everything has a place, everything is labored with a sharpie or whatever. When I need it, I just open the right box and take it out.”

“Well, in that case, I’m sorry to disturb your system.” The blonde took another gulp from her milkshake to hold a laugh.

Lena sighed and did her best to pretend to be disappointed. “All of that work for nothing,” she mocked under her breath, but that only caused the other woman to playfully push her again.

“You need to open your boxes at some point, Lena.”

“You’re right.”

“I usually am.”

* * *

They ordered pizza again. Then, while they ate, Kara confessed she loved to play games with her sister and that she was probably the most competitive person in the world.

“Oh, I doubt it,” Lena replied while chewing on her slice of pizza. “You weren’t raised with Lex.”

“You used to play games together?” Kara asked in genuine curiosity.

“He taught me chess and we used to play it all the time, but that was about it.”

“Well, I’m not that good at chess but I wouldn’t mind playing.”

That’s how they found themselves sitting on the floor in the living room, the coffee table between them, and the chessboard on top of it. For someone who said she wasn’t very good at chess, Kara was difficult to defeat. Lena had to truly think and try different strategies, but she managed to win with slightly more pride, especially because it was more difficult than she anticipated.

Kara laughed when she lost, congratulating her for the good match. “We have to play something I’m good at now. So we can even out.”

Lena didn’t have board games, but she had a deck of cards, so they started to shift from chess to some random game with the deck. When the night started to get too deep and Kara’s eyelids started to drop every few seconds, Lena collected the cards and the board before getting up.

“Come on, you need to sleep.”

Kara groaned, face twisting in annoyance, and Lena chuckled as she reached down for the blonde’s hand. Kara allowed her to hold both of her hands and tug her to her feet, but she didn’t stop groaning as she got up. Once they were both standing, Lena let go of her hands and pushed her a little towards the hallway.

“You can go, I will just fill the dishwasher.”

The blonde sighed and nodded, offering her a small smile before she started to drag her feet in a sleepy walk towards her room. Lena watched her go with a fond shake of her head and a wry smile, then she turned to grab their plates and went to the kitchen. She put everything in the dishwasher, made a quick job of cleaning the rest of the pizza away and started to turn off all the lights on her way.

Kara was standing in the hallway, leaning against her doorframe, looking at Lena under heavy eyelids. “Come to bed.” Lena shot her a worried look, eyes darting between her own room and to Kara, but the blonde threw her a warm smile in return. “It’s a big bed, you know.” When all Lena did was furrow her brows and chew on her bottom lip, Kara approached to hold her hand. “It doesn’t have to mean anything. I just don’t want to stay alone again. Please.”

The small plead finally pushed the tension from Lena’s body and she nodded quietly, allowing Kara to pull her along deeper into the hallway and into the bedroom. The other woman was already using her nightclothes, basketball shorts and her Oxford hoodie, so Lena shed her own clothes in the dark, glad that the light was off so Kara couldn’t see how hard she was blushing.

When they laid in bed, a polite distance between them under the blankets, Lena’s eyes remained open, staring up at the ceiling, even if all she could see was the dark. Hands clasped on her stomach and increasing breath, she tried to calm down enough to rest.

“Lena?” Kara’s voice was just a whisper in the dark.

Lena took a shaky breath, trying not to think how the blonde sounded much closer than she expected. “Yes?”

“Close your eyes.”

So she did.

* * *

Things were different the next day.

Lena couldn’t exactly put a pin on what exactly had changed. The sun still appeared in the sky, they were still breathing, National City was working just fine, they had breakfast together and the Earth kept moving. But Kara was smiling more freely, she was touching Lena more openly, she was laughing from her core like she truly meant it. And Lena couldn’t do anything but watch and draw into it.

Maybe Lena was a locked box made with steel and with enough chains around that no one would dare to touch, but she admired how genuine Kara was. Under soft smile and pale skin was something Lena wasn’t used to dealing with. Softness.

Lena knew all about darkness, bitterness and evil plots, but she wasn’t used with softness, eagerness to please, geniality and crude kindness. When they talked, it felt like all Kara wanted to be everything _Lena_ wanted, all she cared was everything _Lena_ cared. For someone who had spent her whole life being told that the world couldn’t give a shit about her and that her thoughts and opinions weren’t worthy of anyone’s time, it was a hard shake into her status quo.

They spent Sunday watching a cooking show and playing chess. While Kara took a shower, Lena went online and bought almost every game known by men since she realized that the blonde wasn’t joking when she said she loved board games. They ordered Chinese food and ate while sitting side by side on the couch, blanked draped over their legs, a random movie playing on the TV.

Lena woke up on Monday with her alarm going off somewhere near her. She kicked the covers away and got up with a sigh and a groan. If there was one thing she hated in life was to get up before the Sunrise.

As she walked to the bathroom, a light snore crossed the room and reached her ears, making her stop short on her tracks. She had to make a conscious effort not to turn around, but a smile crept on her face as she heard Kara’s snoring on the bed they were sharing just a second before.

The blonde still made her nervous and she still spent most of the night pushing herself away so they wouldn’t touch, but the new advance in their relationship was actually very welcome. Even without touching, it was nice to have someone to share the space with, especially during the cold night. And if Kara was the most fun person to share a bed with, it was just a bonus. The woman talked on her sleep sometimes, not to mention her cute snores.

When she left the shower and slid on her clothes for the day, Kara wasn’t in the bed anymore. Lena grabbed her phone and made her way through the apartment until she reached the kitchen, where she was hoping to find the blonde.

Sure enough, Kara was leaning against the counter, a mug between her hands and another one by her side, waiting for Lena. She offered the woman a sleepy smile and Lena returned it as she walked until she could grab her precious coffee. “You didn’t have to wake up. It’s really early.”

Kara shrugged. “I wanted to make you breakfast, but I also want you to live another day.”

The brunette chuckled croaky behind her mug, looking at Kara over the rim. Kara wasn’t using her glasses, but she had pulled her hair in a loose bun that made her look even younger. “Just coffee is fine.”

“You should eat something.” Kara frowned a little at her.

“I will, later. But it’s not even seven o’clock now and I can’t eat so early in the day. Besides, I have a meeting with the board in half an hour.”

“Fine, but promise me you will eat.” Kara pointed a finger at her and Lena quirked one brow at the request. “At some point before 10!”

Lena shook her head with a smirk. “You’re unbelievable, Kara Danvers.”

* * *

“How did you like your office?” Lex walked inside without knocking and Lena was barely able to hold back an eye-roll.

Lena turned the page on the report, one of the thousand Lex’s assistant had dropped on her table before and avoided looking up. “It has charm.”

Lex dropped himself in the uncomfortable small chair that was located in front of her desk and crossed his legs. “I can’t express how happy I am to have you back, Lena. And working with me this time!”

She hummed and used the red pen to cross out some words and make some notes. “So you said in the meeting this morning.”

He chuckled. “So, how’s the married life going?”

She finally looked up, swirling the pen between her fingers, and studied his face for a couple of seconds. Lena wasn’t sure if she could tell him to fuck off and be honest about the fact that Kara and she weren’t going to get married. To be fair, she thought he knew the truth and the fact that he was insisting on the lie but her on the edge.

She knew there was a reason why he allowed her to buy Kara, she knew there was a reason why he invaded her apartment a couple of days before, and she knew there must be a reason why he kept talking about it, so Lena decided that she should keep up the façade as well. Maybe if she played along, it would be easier for her to find out what was his plan later.

“We’re still adapting,” Lena replied finally, clicking her pen in quick moves.

He nodded like he knew what she was talking about. “I can imagine. Well, have you two decided when the wedding is taking place? I was talking with her the other day and I suggested using the 4th of July to do it.”

4th of July was just a little over a month away. “We’re still discussing it, but it sounds like a good idea.”

“Of course! The sooner the better, right?” Lex chuckled. “As soon as you two get married, you can start talking about expending the family.”

Lena clicked her pen one last time before she froze in place, elbows resting on her table and green eyes staring at Lex like he had grown a second head. “Expend the family?” she repeated slowly.

He waved a hand around. “Of course! It might not be the most common of love stories but it can be a fun one to tell your kids, for sure!”

Lena hesitated for a second, then she nodded slowly and tried to smile. “I think that’s a conversation for the future.”

“You two shouldn’t wait!” Lex shot up from his chair suddenly and offered her another creepy smile. “Just saying. Anyway, I hope our new CFO has a great day. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

“Actually,” she called for him before he could walk away. When Lex turned around, she did her best to sound as casual as she could. “Maybe you could give me the key to Kara’s bracelet.”

His smile grew bigger. “Why?”

“Well, to start with, she’s to be _my_ wife.” She had learned, from a young age, that sometimes you have to adapt and play the same game as your opponent. So, even if it made her sick to say the next words, she forced herself to do it. “I think it should be _my_ choice what to do with it.”

Lex studied her with a smirk and one arched eyebrow. “My dear sister, I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t think I can do it. You see, I’m only keeping it to protect you. What if she found it and got free? She might try to hurt you! I could never live with the risk of my baby sister getting hurt by one of these monsters.” He sighed like he was truly sad with that perspective. “I’m afraid I’m keeping it, instead.”

Lena watched him go like a rock had just sunk in her stomach. She had a better idea now of what her brother was plotting, but she still had no idea how to stop him.

* * *

_‘Thank you for lunch!’_

Lena smiled down at her phone and the line of blue heart emojis that followed the text, almost missing the floor when the elevator doors open. She had to look up twice to be sure before she exited the metal box while typing a reply.

_‘Couldn’t let you starve or burn down my kitchen.’_

She kept her walk with confidence and people started to get out of her way, which she was actually used to. Most people wouldn’t touch a Luthor even if they got paid. She had just rounded a corner when another text came along.

_‘When are you going to be back?’_

Lena saw Winn walking to her direction so she stopped in the middle of the hallway to type her reply as she waited for her friend to join her.

_‘Around 7, I think. Do you want me to grab dinner?’_

_‘If you want... I really need to learn how to cook.’_

_‘Stay away from the kitchen.’_

The only reply she got was another line of blue hearts and Lena pushed her phone deep in her pocket at the same time Winn stopped in front of her. “Hey! Can you come with me?”

Lena followed him back to the elevator with a frown. “You called me to set up a lunch.”

“I know, but we’re not doing it here. I need to show you something.”

They took her car to another building a couple of blocks away from CatCo Magazine and Lena parked even if she was confused as to why they were there. When she unbuckled her seatbelt, Winn reached over to stop her before she could leave the car.

“Lena, I need to tell you that I shouldn’t bring you here and that people won’t be happy with me, but this is the best chance to find answers to your question.”

“Winn...” she licked her lips and looked at him with wary eyes. “Where are we?”

He smiled at her. “I don’t know why you came to me to ask how to break something that was fortified with Kryptonite and you don’t have to tell me, but it must be important if you asked for my help. I made some research and I think I found a way, but I don’t have the equipment. This place,” he pointed at the building behind them, “might have. They’re my friends, so you don’t need to worry.”

The first person she met was a woman named Velazquez. She was less than happy to see her, but then a man named J’onn walked towards them and Winn waved at him with a goofy smile. He explained to him briefly what was going on, like zero details besides telling him he was showing Lena something in his lab, and the man agreed to let them pass if he was eyeing Lena with suspicion.

The next person she met was a redhead woman who immediately started to yell at Winn for bringing someone there who wasn’t either authorized or an agent – even though Lena had her suspicions that her last name was also a problem to her. But that’s when Lena finally learned the name of the place Winn had dragged her to.

The DEO. Department of Extranormal Operations. Not the best name she had ever heard of, but it left no space for misunderstanding, so she could understand why.

“We just need to take a look at some equipment for a second!” Winn replied.

“You can’t just bring people to look at our stuff, Winn!” The woman shouted back even more annoyed. “This is supposed to be a secret agency and we can’t keep it a secret if you start to tell people about it!”

“But she asked for my help and...”

“No, Winn! This is not right, you can’t do that! And she shouldn’t be here! She definitely shouldn’t be here at all.”

“Winn is an old friend of mine,” Lena tried to intervene. “He’s trying to help me with a problem.”

The woman glanced at her with angry, dark eyes and Lena almost shrink into herself. “I don’t mind if you know each other since the day you were born. You shouldn’t be here.”

“But since she’s already here, we can’t do anything about it.” Winn offered a weak excuse and a shy smile, but neither woman acknowledged him. “Can I take her to the lab now?”

“No!” the woman shouted at the same time J’onn said kindly: “Yes.”

And that’s how Lena found herself in some very nice lab, surrounded by equipment that she could only dream of having, with Winn talking excitedly to her. He made sure to explain how he ended up affiliated to a secret agency and how much he loved that job, but Lena was only half paying attention at him, her eyes roaming the room to catch every detail.

“Anyway,” Winn said after he noticed his friend was more interested in pocking some of the equipment. “I was working with something before Superman went missing. I couldn’t find a way to finish it or to make it work the way it should be, but I think you can help me with that now. The initial idea was to build a suit capable of blocking every radiation originating from Kryptonite. The thing is, I was never able to find the right technology to do it.”

Lena walked towards him to look over his shoulder to the box he had opened. Inside there was a Superman suit that he carefully pulled out. “I think we can modify it to reduce the effects of the green Kryptonite for a while until we find a way to build the suit or break the ring you told me about.”

“This is amazing, Winn.” She smiled at her friend and fought a wish to pat his back. “Truly amazing.”

He blushed hard at the compliment and pushed the box to the side. “Well, I’m trying really hard, but I couldn’t find a way to make it work yet. But if we work together...”

“We can definitely find a way,” she finished his sentence with a nod. “I agree.”

“Lena, I-I don’t know who this ring is attached to and I don’t want to ask and make you uncomfortable, but there’s a very low number of people it could be a problem to. Kryptonite is not a problem for anybody who isn’t a Kryptonian and Superman is missing for weeks now and...”

Lena wasn’t sure if she should tell him about Kara. As far as she knew, Lex had selected a very exclusive group of people – of middle-aged rich white man he wanted to grab money from by selling the woman – to announce that Superman wasn’t the only Kryptonian on Earth. And, even if she trusted Winn, she still felt the urge to protect Kara in any way she could, so she shook her head to interrupt him.

“I can’t tell you, Winn, I’m sorry. I will tell you it has to be with him somehow, but that’s all I can say.”

Winn sighed but nodded. “I understand. Well, let’s get to work then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: I'm sad, give me food  
> Lena: Anything you want! Just not a marriage


	8. I have it bad

Lena walked inside the apartment holding a bag of take-out boxes in one hand and her keys in the other. She dropped the keys in the side table, removed her coat and heels, and walked towards her living room, where she expected to find Kara. She had a hell of a day having to see and talk with Lex at every hour, and she wanted nothing more than fall into bed and sleep for a week, but when she saw the blonde spread over the couch with a book on her hands, she couldn’t help but relax and stop to admire the view for a second.

“What are you looking at?” Kara teased as she flipped a page.

Lena’s face flushed and she forced herself to keep walking until she could drop the take-outs in the coffee table. “Are you liking this book?”

“Yes,” Kara smiled and nodded solemnly. “Although I wouldn’t have pinned you for an Oscar Wilde fan.”

Lena shrugged. “I’m not. I think Sam gave me that one.”

The blonde hummed before she lowered the book and set up, throwing her legs out of the couch. “Go change, I will get us some plates.”

When Lena returned, Kara was waiting for her with a large smile, bright eyes and the kind of vigor that the new CFO of Luthor Corp had learned to admire and was very fond of. She was holding a handful of daisies that could barely be called a bouquet but were sweet all the same.

“I went for a walk around the block,” Kara explained.

Lena shook her head fondly as she reached out for the flowers. “What is this about?”

Kara fiddled with her glasses as a blush ran up her neck and colored her cheeks. “They reminded me of you.”

Lena quirked one eyebrow and held the flowers under her nose to take a deep breath. The flowers smelled like nothing at all, but she offered her a sweet smile all the same. “That’s really sweet, thank you.”

Kara straightened her glasses again. “How was work?”

That broke Lena’s happy bubble almost immediately and she sighed heavily. “A lot of useless meetings, a lot of dealing with Lex and a lot of reports I need to fix.” They both set down on the table to eat and she picked up the fork Kara had put down for her. “I also started to work on a way to take the effects of the ring.” Kara beamed at her and Lena instantly felt proud of herself for putting that smile on the blonde’s face. “It might take me a few days since I only have my lunch break to work on it, but I’m confident it’s going to work.”

“That’s amazing, Lena.”

She would forever found amusing how she didn’t blush with the flowers, but she became a tomato with the simple praise she received. It added more fuel to her desire to make it work. To make things right. To make Kara smile like that again.

“So...” Lena started slowly while searching for something to distract herself with. “Lex said some interesting things today. And by ‘interesting’ I mean ‘totally crazy’.”

Despite her own feelings for the man, Kara chuckled. “What did he say?”

Lena put a mouthful of food on her mouth and chewed for a second, trying to find the best way to voice her brother’s words. Finally, she stabbed another carrot and shrugged. “He said we should get married on the 4th of July, which is so patriotic of him.” Kara snorted around her chopstick and Lena grinned at her. “He also let out a side of him I never saw before. Lex Luthor is really eager to become an uncle, go figure.”

Her lighthearted tone wasn’t enough to reduce the impact of her words on Kara. The blonde inhaled hard, sucking all food on her fork inside and to the complete wrong pipe, causing her to choke violently. The blonde immediately let go of her fork, closed her hand on a tight fist and hit her chest hard in a desperate try to free her airways. Lena moved to pat her back with worried eyes, but Kara raised her other hand to stop her, shaking her head. She coughed a couple of times, then drained her entire glass of water in large gulps and it was enough to make her breathe again.

She took a deep breath and chuckled nervously, a weirded out sound from the back of her throat, hoarse because of her near-death experience. “Wha-What?”

Frowning in concern, Lena watched her face carefully to make sure the sickening red tone on the woman’s skin wasn’t due to her suffocating to death anymore. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah! Totally fine!” Kara waved her hand and chuckled again, looking very uncomfortable. “I want more water. Do you want more water?” She didn’t wait for the other woman to answer as she got up, grab her cup and rushed to the kitchen sink to fill it.

Lena arched one eyebrow as she observed the blonde. As usual, Kara was using her Oxford hoodie, but she had pulled the sleeves to her elbows, her hair was pulled in a messy bun and she was using comfortable sweatpants. From where she was sitting, Lena could see the back of the woman’s neck going so red that she must have gotten really uncomfortable under those warm clothes. Green eyes studied the blonde’s back, trying hard not to go down to stare at a perfect round ass, as the woman drank a whole glass of water before filling it again and turning around to go back to the table.

Kara avoided looking at her at all as she set down and grabbed her fork again. Lena watched her for another minute, then she leaned over the table, pushed her plate away and joined her hands together. “Kara, was that what my brother told you that day? That we have to get married and have a baby?”

The blonde’s face flushed hard and fast, but she didn’t make a sound. All she did was nod once and stuff enough food in her mouth to gain her some time. “Something like that,” she whispered in defeat.

“And what else?”

Kara sighed. “That he knows where my mother lives, that he has my cousin somewhere, that he stole my powers and I can’t do anything about it. He didn’t say that our marriage has any influence under those things, but I’m not dumb either.”

Lena leaned back on her chair, moving her left arm to rest against the back of it while her right hand played with the napkin on top of the table, eyes scanning Kara’s face closely. She tapped the table with her fingers twice before turning her head to the side to look to the empty living room beside Kara.

“It makes no sense,” she admitted quietly. “It makes no sense because if Lex wanted to have a hybrid baby or whatever, he should have... peddled Superman instead.” Lena shook her head and took a deep breath. “I have reasons to believe that he knew I was going to that meeting and that I wouldn’t have let any of those men buy you, which means he set me up because he knew I would do it. That means he wanted me to... purchase you.” Lena frowned in confusion, barely noticing that Kara had turned to look at the side of her face. “But if what he wants is a baby... then it makes no sense. My theory falls flat and I’m back to square one.”

There was a long, heavy silence that followed her words, but Lena paid no attention to it as her mind traveled a mile per hour to crack down the mystery again. She thought she had figured Lex out, but now she just had a thousand more questions. Kara also pushed her plate away, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore, and she discreetly cleared her throat as she crossed her arms on top of the table.

“So why not Superman?” Lena didn’t ask anyone in particular, her voice was only a whisper to voice her thoughts, but Kara decided to answer all the same.

“To be honest, I think your brother is in love with my cousin.”

Lena’s eyes went as large as plates and her head snapped back at Kara in less than a second, mouth hanging open. “What?!”

Kara nodded, lips pushed together in a thin line. “Yep.”

The brunette kept eyeing her in shock for almost a minute. “You’re joking,” she accused finally.

The other woman shook her head and brought the cup of water against her lips to hide a smirk. “I have reasons to believe I’m right.” She took a sip of the water, then spun the liquid around the glass for a second before putting it back on the table. “He locked me for three weeks, he could have asked a thousand questions about me, but all he wanted to know was about Kal. So I’m not surprised he chose me for the task and not him.”

Lena’s surprise only increased the more Kara talked to the point where she could barely believe the words she was hearing. In the end, she snapped her jaws closed and her brow furrowed deeply. “Superman’s name is Kal?”

Kara’s eyes moved to her in confusion. “Wha-Yes, it is. Is that all you took from what I said?”

The brunette twisted her lips and shrugged. “That’s a lot of information,” she commented calmly.

Even though the mood around them was heavy and a bit uncomfortable, Kara huffed a laugh and nodded. “My sister is also gay, I will give you a few minutes to adjust to the idea.” She reached out for her cup again.

The silence remained for a while longer at that time. Kara finished her water, used her fork to push some of her food around the plate, and waited. Lena, on the other hand, was staring at the table like she was trying to set the thing on fire with her thoughts. Finally, she looked at Kara with a light blush on her cheeks.

“Is Kara... Is this your real name or...?”

Kara shook her head. “No, it is. Kal uses an Earth name for himself, but I chose to only change my last name.” And then, before Lena could ask, she said: “Zor-El, that’s my real last name.”

“Oh,” Lena nodded slowly and looked away again.

“Guess it’s going to be Luthor now, huh?” Kara’s voice was heavy and sad as she scoffed.

“I’m going to fix this,” Lena said again for what seemed like the hundredth time since they met.

“I have no doubt you’re going to try.”

* * *

“It still makes no sense.”

“Go to sleep, Lena. It’s almost two in the morning, you have to get up to go to work soon.”

“I can’t.” Lena sighed. “It still makes no sense.”

Kara huffed and turned on the bed until she was facing the other woman. Lena was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling, and so far away that she could bet half of her body was actually out of the bed. “I’m feeling like I might regret it, but do you want to talk? Maybe I can clarify whatever is bothering you. I was said I have a brilliant mind before.”

Lena ignored her jab, choosing to shake her head instead. “Even if the reason why Lex didn’t try to... sell, fine there’s no other word for it,” Kara hummed in amused agreement, “sell Superman because he’s in love with him or because he has some other plans, it still makes no sense.” She turned her head to the side, trying to search for blue orbs in the dark, but finding nothing besides black. “We can’t have a baby together.”

Even if she couldn’t see her face, Lena could still feel the mood in the room change to something darker. It wasn’t like the silence they had before they started that weird friendship-like that was just awkward and slightly uncomfortable between two people forced to share a room. It was much harder, heavy, uneasy and it made Lena’s stomach sink.

“Kara?”

“Go to sleep, Lena.”

She didn’t fight it this time.

She also didn’t sleep at all.

* * *

They found an easy routine for the rest of the week.

Lena would wake up with her alarm and hop in the shower to get ready for the day. When she left, Kara would be waiting for her with a cup of coffee and one of her good-naturedly sleepy smiles that made the brunette’s heart stumble on her chest every time. Then she would leave for work where she would try not to punch Lex every day, especially when he asked her every single day when the marriage would take place. At the lunch break, Lena would go to the DEO with Winn so they could keep working on the device. She would receive a text from Kara thanking her for sending lunch for her, even if she told her it wasn’t a problem and she didn’t have to thank her at all. Then she would go back to Luthor Corporation and work until seven, when she would leave, stop at some restaurant to buy dinner, then head home, where Kara and she would watch movies while they ate.

And every day when they slid in bed together to go to sleep, Lena tried not to think about how fuller her heart felt in comparison to the day before.

Lena was never called dumb, no, neither was she called a liar. She was very good at pretending nothing was wrong, though, and lying to herself was actually her expertise, but sometimes things reach a point that you can’t ignore anymore. She told Kara she liked classifying things in boxes and that’s how she separates most of the things she didn’t want to deal with inside her head, but one of those boxes one day will inevitably get too full and she won’t be able to close it. It will start to overflow and no amount of tape or prays would be able to shut it again.

So maybe she likes to put her things, her thoughts, her emotions, her feelings on boxes, but Kara said once she had to open those boxes eventually. Lena wasn’t particularly ready to open that one, but since she couldn’t close it anymore she thought it might be time to face it.

She was falling in love with Kara. Probably, and it was just probably because she wasn’t so open to discussing her feelings, she already was completely smitten by the blonde woman who fell in her life without a warning. The point was that she was feeling things for the other woman that she shouldn’t have been.

They had managed to cut, polish and shine something from their situation that was more than Lena could ever expect. They became friends. Kara was easy to trust, easy to talk, easy to love, to be honest, and Lena, the touch starved, love-starved, relationship starved woman she was, fell for it fast and hard.

Kara had all reasons to fear her and suspect her for her brother’s crimes, but she didn’t hesitate to pull Lena on a tight hug, to bring her daisies from her walks around the block, to flash her a smile, to tease her, to joke around her, to share a bed with her even though there was another perfect bed she could use. And it was so wrong to feel those things for her. Kara trusted her to free her from Lex’s claws, she trusted Lena to give back her life, she just trusted Lena. She was giving her so much and all she was asking back was her freedom, something Lena promised to give her back.

So she couldn’t help but feel like the biggest jerk in the world when her eyes would linger a little too long on Kara’s backside when she walked away, when her heart would skip a beat every time the blonde laughed, when her thighs would tingle every time they laid side by side on the large bed. Lena didn’t felt like she was better than Lex when her mind would trail away when Kara was talking and she would stare at her lips while wondering how it would feel to kiss them. Or when her breath would catch in the back of her throat when Kara’s hand lingered for a little too long on her shoulders when she passed by her. Or when she would blush like a school-girl when Kara would compliment her somehow.

Lena was doing a lot of pinning.

But, if she was being honest, Kara was doing a lot of _lingering_.

The thing was, Kara is a naturally touchy person. And when she was being her natural happy ray of Sunshine around the house, it was hard for Lena not to think she had ‘wife’ written all over. Not that she would ever say that out loud. She didn’t think it was a conversation that would happen smoothly, to say to the woman your brother is basically forcing to marry you that she has actually a lot of wife material.

The thing that pushed Lena over the edge happened on Friday that week. After spending a whole week in hell, a.k.a working for her brother, Lena had fallen asleep on the couch while they tried to play Monopoly. Strange game to play in two, but they were managing until Lena’s head fell back and her eyes closed. She woke up with Kara pocking her nose, causing it to crinkle, and demanding she goes to bed so she wouldn’t be sore the next day.

She was sleeping a second after her body hit the mattress. She woke up, though, sometime later with the feeling of something scooting closer, dipping the mattress under her. Lena held her breath for a second before she remembered she wasn’t alone in the house and her body relaxed again. That’s it until she felt an arm slid under her side and squeeze her around the middle. Then she was pulled back in strong arms, and she felt a nose touching her back as Kara nuzzled into her.

Lena waited a minute – maybe ten – before she carefully, trying not to disturb the other woman, turned over to throw a look behind her. To her surprise, Kara was glaring right back at her. A shiver went down her spine to the look she could almost distinguish in the dark and her own reaction set a light on her mind.

“You’re cold?” Lena mumbled, but she didn’t wait for Kara’s reply as she slipped out of the woman’s arms, feeling like she could breathe again, and headed to the closet where they kept the extra blankets.

She picked two, just to be sure, then returned to the bedroom with a sleepy smile. She dropped the blankets on top of Kara, making sure she was fully covered under the mountain she had just buried the woman on, then she returned to her side of the bed and tried to force her brain to shut down and sleep. Kara didn’t reach out for her again, which was both a victory and a curse for Lena, and that’s when she realized she had it bad.

Really bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lex: Can you give me a baby?  
> Lena: No  
> Lex: ... What about now?  
> Lena: No  
> Lex: ... Now?  
> Lena: Can you not?  
> Lex: You're mood killer


	9. Free to fly in prison

Lena made a real effort to leave the penthouse without waking up Kara.

She skipped her daily morning shower so she wouldn’t disturb the other woman and tiptoed around to collect clothes and a shoe before she slid out of the door and into the hallway bathroom. Kara deserved to sleep a little longer. She had woken up early every day without the need just so she could walk Lena to the door with her cup of coffee, and it was Saturday, she didn’t have to wake up again just because Lena couldn’t sleep and had spent all night thinking about ways to help her.

When Lena walked inside the DEO that morning, Winn wasn’t waiting for her like usual. He texted her to let her know he was already in the lab and that she shouldn’t have any problem getting there since it was Saturday and not many people were around. When she left the elevator and turned the corner to the lab area, she almost ran into the redhead agent that had given her a mortal glare the first time she showed up there.

The woman was around a couple of other times, but she didn’t talk with Lena again and Lena did her best to get out of her way so she wouldn’t find a way to kick her out. Working in those labs with Winn seemed to be the only way to help Kara and the last thing she wanted was to piss off the wrong person and be escorted out.

The short-haired woman scoffed at her, threw her another glare, and walked away so fast that Lena could barely keep up. Then the CFO shook her head and pushed the door to the lab open.

“Ignore her,” Winn said as a greeting. “Her sister is missing, she’s having a couple of hard weeks.”

Feeling bad for calling the woman a bitch on her head, Lena nodded and walked to where her friend was standing. “Any progress?”

“I just got here.” He pushed a cup of coffee in her direction and turned the computer screen at her. “But I insert the code you sent to me this morning. I’m just waiting for it to load and we can try again.”

Lena drank some of the offered coffee and nodded. “Perfect.”

While they wait for the computer to make the changes they required, another man, that Lena had never seen before, popped his head inside and gave Winn a thumbs up. “I’m back!”

Her friend lighted like a Christmas tree and she turned her chair away in a weak attempt not to stare as they talked. “How was it?”

“Everyone is alive. I think Jackson broke his arm, though.”

“Oh, that’s bad.”

“Yeah, but it’s better than last time!”

“It sure is, Mon-El. Congratulations.”

“Thanks! I’m going to the cafeteria now!”

When the man left, Lena turned her chair back around and cleared her throat. “So... He was using some... interesting clothes.”

Winn smiled at her like a small child. “I made that suit.”

Lena nodded as she raised the now empty cup of coffee to her lips to hide a grin that was threatening to break free. “Interesting.”

He must have noticed that she was trying too hard because he’s shoulders dropped and he sighed. “Since Superman went missing, Mon-El and some other aliens offered to help keep things in place until we get him back. He needed a uniform.” Her friend explained.

She nodded again, much slower, and lowered her hands to her lap. “A cape, though?”

Winn rolled his eyes. “He insisted. Makes him look like Superman.”

“Right, right.” Lena chuckled softly and raised one hand in surrender. “It has charm.”

“It does,” he replied in an almost dreamy tone, his eyes clouding a little as he stared to the floor.

Feeling bad for making fun of him, Lena dragged her chair until she was close enough to pat his shoulder. The act must have surprised him because his head shot up to stare at her as a second head had just popped. She realized why a second later and immediately removed her hand from his body as it had just burned. Her face flushed hard and Lena looked around to try to hide it as she smoothed her pants down her thighs.

Damn Kara and her touchy nature. It was getting contagious.

Lena opened her mouth to say something, maybe tease him again about his obvious crush in the man dressed ridiculously like a cheap superhero to take the attention out of herself, but then there was a loud _beep_ coming from the computer and they both jumped to take a close look.

Later, while they waited for the machine to end crafting the small bracelet, Lena sighed. “Can I trust you with some bad information?”

“How bad?”

“It has to do with my family, so it’s pretty bad.” Winn nodded with an apologetic smile and waved for her to keep talking. “Lex has Superman.”

“What?!” His voice went high and loud so fast that Lena jumped a little on her chair.

She threw a worried look over her shoulders to see if anyone heard his explosion, but, just like Winn had said, there was no one around on a Saturday morning. Finally, she looked back at him and made some signals for him to be quiet. “I know, I know! Believe me, I know! But I’m taking care of this, okay? I might have a plan.”

“A plan?! Lena, Superman is missing for over a month now! And this whole time Lex is keeping him captive?!” Winn has slid out of his lab stool and was now staring at her with wide eyes and pale face. “We all thought he might have something to do with it but to actually keep him captive is...”

“Winn, calm down. I have reasons to believe Superman is safe, even though my brother decided to keep him locked up.”

“Safe? How can he be safe?! Oh my God, this is bad, this is really bad!”

Lena got up and grabbed his arms to force him to look at her, then she gave him a pointed look. “I got this, trust me.”

He didn’t look like he trusted her entirely.

Lena couldn’t blame him.

* * *

“I have something for you,” Lena announced the second she walked inside her penthouse.

“Where were you?”

The small voice coming from the kitchen made her stop short on her tracks. She could almost hear the screeching noise of her heels against the floor. Her smile dropped when she noticed Kara sitting on the table with a mug between her hands and puffy red eyes that made her look like she had been crying.

“Kara?”

“I woke up and you were gone. Where were you?”

“Shit,” Lena breathed out as her shoulders slumped like rocks. She dropped her phone and keys on the closest bookshelf and started to make her way slowly to where the other woman was, scratching the back of her neck nervously thanks to the intense glare she was receiving. Kara was not even blinking, which was even more enervating. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was going out. I’m not used to... have someone around.”

Kara’s blue eyes studied for another long and uncomfortable seconds before she nodded. “I thought you have left,” she confessed.

“Left?” Lena asked with a frown. She reached the chair across from Kara, the one that the blonde usually set when they were eating, and placed both hands against the back to lean her weight on it. When all Kara did was nod in silence, Lena cursed again. “Shit.” Her fingers dug on the wooden chair and she sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I would just leave you here. I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t want to wake you up either. I should have left a note or texted, I’m sorry.”

For what felt like an eternity, all Kara did was stare at her with big blue eyes. In the end, she nodded once and brought the mug to her lips to take a sip. “Where were you?”

Feeling like she might have been forgiven for her mistake, Lena tried to relax as she pulled the chair back so she could sit on it. “I was talking with that old friend that’s trying to help me to break your ring.”

“Oh.” Clearly interested in it now, Kara squirmed in her chair. “What did he say?”

“Well,” Lena draw out the word as she pulled a small black box from the pocket of her coat and put it down on the table in front of her. She used her index finger to push it towards Kara and offered her a smile. “Try this one.”

Kara took the box with slightly trembling hands. “You already said you’re sorry, you don’t have to buy my forgiveness.”

Not sure if she was joking or not, Lena rolled her eyes. “You said you’re quite the material girl.”

Now smiling, Kara threw her a joyful glare as she pulled the top out of the box. When she looked down at it, her face went white as a sheet. “What is this?”

“Well, we still didn’t find a way to break the ring or the wristband that Lex locked it with, so we thought we could build something else,” Lena explained in her scientist's voice, leaning over the table to point at the silver bracelet they had cut that morning. “This follow the same principle as an anti-Kryptonite suit. It’s a small device that will block the effects of the green Kryptonite on you. Well, any Kryptonite, really.”

“What?” Kara looked up at her with wide eyes filled with tears.

Taken aback by Kara’s reaction, Lena cleared her throat and leaned back into her chair. “It won’t break the ring, but it will stop the Kryptonite of hurting you and, well, I believe it will bring your powers back. We didn’t have Kryptonite to run any tests, but...”

Before she could finish, Kara jumped from her hair and rounded the table in a heist to reach her. Out of instinct, Lena also got up, ready to be slapped or screamed at. She turned around until her hips were touching the table behind her and then she placed her palms on the surface to hold herself for the impact.

But it never came.

Kara stopped once she was in front of the CFO, then she removed the bracelet from inside the box and held it close to Lena. “Can you help me put it?”

Since the blonde’s voice was soft and calm, Lena forced her body to relax and follow the request. Her hands slowly came from behind her to take the bracelet from Kara’s. She was shaking a little, Lena realized as Kara turned her wrist up, the one that didn’t already have a bracelet. The Luthor held the bracelet under her wrist, then brought both ends up to curl the silver thing around Kara’s arm. Since her hands were trembling slightly, Lena had to try a couple of times before she was able to close the clasp but once she did the change was immediate.

Kara took a huge intake of breath, shaky and a little painful, but it was clear it was the first time in a while where she felt like she could properly breathe again. Her whole body relaxed and, for a second, Lena thought her knees would buckle under her. The sickening shade on her skin was gone, no more pale skin or green veins, and her skin stopped looking like a thin fragile paper. The fading bruise Lex had left on her beautiful face vanished so fast that Lena was barely able to keep up with it and even her hair seemed brighter.

If Lena thought she was a sight before, it had nothing on what she could see then.

Standing in front of her was a confident, strong, powerful woman who knew she was all of this and was not scared to show. It made Lena’s thighs tingle again and blush to rush up to her chest, neck, and cheeks.

“Wow,” she breathed before she could stop herself.

Kara smiled so brightly and happily that Lena forgot how to breathe for a second. “It worked,” she whispered in awe. “Lena, it worked.”

“Yes, I’m...”

Lena was interrupted by soft full lips crashing into hers. Kara had taken hold of her face, cradling it between her hands, and tilted her head to the side to press a firm kiss on Lena’s lips. But, as soon as it started, it was gone. Lena didn’t even have time to close her eyes. The next thing she knew, Kara had let go of her face to hold her hands and Lena was left there in complete and utter shock.

“It worked!”

Something definitely worked.

* * *

Kara was a little of a show-off, turns out.

After she was done screaming at Lena that she did it, the device worked and all, she started to put her powers into test. First, she raised Lena’s table using one hand, then she used her super-speed to run around the apartment for a second, before she got out and came back in less than two seconds, holding a single daisy right on Lena’s face.

The CFO took it in silence, too shocked to say or do anything else because it was happening all too fast. And her lips were still tingling, and her heart was still beating way too fast, and her head was spinning, and they had just kissed.

After running around a little more, Kara used her heat vision to warm her tea that had gone cold during their talk. Then she used her x-ray vision to look outside and, for last but no less important, she locked Lena into a bone-crushing hug. She spun Lena around so fast that the brunette had to close her eyes to keep herself from puking all of the coffee Winn had provided her, but her arms curled around the other woman just as tightly.

When she put Lena down again, Kara had the largest smile Lena had ever seen. “I can break it!”

“What?” Head still spinning and heart still racing, Lena blinked in confusion.

“My powers are back, I can break Lex’s bracelet!”

Kara moved to do exactly that, but then Lena reached out to grab her wrist and stop her. “No!”

“What? Why not?” the blonde looked up with a frown and confused eyes.

Lena sighed and shook her head. “Lex put a tracker there, remember? If you take it off, he will know we’re up to something,” she explained.

“Oh,” Kara’s shoulders dropped a little as her frown intensified.

“I’m sorry,” Lena whispered and squeezed the woman’s wrist, offering her a tight, guilt smile.

The blonde shook her head. “No, you’re right. If he starts to suspect that his plan is not going as he planned, he might try to do something else.” She sighed. “I think that means I can’t run around like that anymore, huh?”

Lena chuckled. “Unless you want him to come over and see if his tracker is malfunctioning.”

“No flying?” Kara asked with a raised brow.

It made Lena laugh harder. “You can do it inside the apartment.”

“Better than nothing,” the blonde shrugged and looked down at her new bracelet. “It’s way prettier than the other one.”

“It’s a simple silver band,” Lena shook her head in dismiss, but Kara wasn’t having it.

“It’s something you gave me, I like it.”

When she looked up again, Lena was biting her bottom lip and her face was a little red as Kara’s words sank into her brain. The blonde smiled at her a bit softer and her eyes shinned a bit brighter, and then her demeanor changed. Her cheeks blushed a beautiful shade of pink and she looked down at her feet while clearing her throat.

“Do you...” the blonde stopped to take a deep breath before she looked back up. “Did you chose a bracelet on purpose?”

“What do you mean?” Lena asked with a frown.

“On Krypton we – we don’t have wedding rings or engagement rings or anything of the kind,” Kara fiddled with her glasses as she talked and Lena waited with wide eyes for her next words. “We use bracelets,” she finished. “When you give someone a bracelet, you’re basically asking them to marry you.”

Lena had no idea her eyes could get that wide or that her heart could beat that fast or that her jaw could go that slack. She gasped when the weight of the words sank on her stomach and she took a step back until her hips touched the table again and she was stuck in place. Between Kara and her table. After basically asking the woman to marry her.

“I – I – I - ...”

Taking pity on her, Kara raised her hands in front of her face. “I understand things are different here on Earth, I was just wondering if there was a particular reason why you chose a bracelet to give me.”

To be honest, a bracelet was easier to carve. The DEO had tons of technologies and some amazing machines, but machinery to manufacture jewelry was not one of those. Truth be told, Lena could have just given her the device Winn and she had come up with, but it looked too much like a rock and she thought it would be weird for the woman to carry a rock on her pocket everywhere she went. Hence the bracelet. Not to propose, not at all.

Kara must have noticed it or she saw something on Lena’s face because she sighed heavily and took a step back. “I see.”

Lena was not an expert on human emotions – or aliens’ emotions in this case – but Kara looked almost disappointed when she turned around to take a few rounds flying around the living room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lena: Hey, I have a gift for you!  
> Kara: So do I! *kiss*  
> Lena: *dies*  
> Lex: *hiding behind a wall* Ah-há!


	10. Sixties Snack

_‘The DEO is coming to your apartment. I’m so sorry.’_

Winn’s text puts her in panic immediately.

Lena jumped from her place on the couch, not even bothering to grab the book that fell from her lap, and she ran to the bedroom where Kara had excused herself to take a shower after accidentally knocking a flower vase on herself while she flew around.

“Kara!” she called. “Kara, you need to get out of here!”

The blonde poked her head from the bathroom door and looked at her in confusion. “What? Why?”

“I can’t explain right now, but it’s dangerous for you to be here. You need to leave.”

Kara disappeared for a second and when she returned she was fully dressed. Her wet hair was falling down her shoulders and wetting Lena’s hoodie, but she didn’t care at all. “Lena, you’re scaring me.”

“I’m sorry, I-“ Lena took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. “My friend warned me that some people are coming over to ask me some questions and it’s risky for you to be here while they talk to me.”

“And where should I go?” Kara raised one brow at her as she raised her arm to show the brunette Lex’s wristband.

“Shit,” the CFO breathed. “You can go to the garage and hide in my car. This way, Lex will still think you’re in my building.”

“Lena, isn’t it dangerous for you to stay here alone?” Kara asked in clear concern, approaching the other woman. “I have my powers back, I can help if something goes wrong and...”

“No, it’s dangerous for you. I can take care of myself,” Lena promised with a short nod. “And, speaking of, I need the bracelet back.”

Kara’s hand shot up as she held her arm against her chest in a protective manner. “What?”

“I’m sorry, Kara, but this is why they’re here. If they ask to see it, I can’t tell them it’s gone.”

The blonde hesitated for a second before she pulled the bracelet out of her wrist and handed it back at Lena. Her face contorted in pain almost immediately and she bent over a little when the air was knocked out of her lungs like someone had punched her stomach.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked worriedly, both hands on Kara’s arms to stop her from falling if it ever came to it.

The woman nodded, taking deep slow breaths to calm down. “Just the first impact of the Kryptonite.”

“I will give you back, I’m so sorry, Kara.”

“It’s okay, just... please, take care. If those people say they want to take this away, don’t fight them, okay?” Kara looked at her with large blue eyes and intense glare. “I don’t care about it as long as your safe.”

Lena didn’t want to lie at her or think too much about her words, so she simply nodded. “Now, go. Please. I will go get you once they leave.”

* * *

She wasn’t totally surprised when she opened her door and saw the redhead agent there. She was a little surprised to see the man named J’onn, Winn and Winn’s crush, Mon-El or something.

“Yes?”

“Cut the crap, Luthor,” the woman spatted in a harsh tone. “Winn told us about your little project with your brother.”

Lena slowly quirked one brow. “Whatever project Lex might be involved at, I have nothing to do with it.” Knowing there was no point in lying and say she had no idea what she was talking about, Lena chose to defend herself of the crude, unfair accusation.

From over the woman’s shoulder, she saw Winn mounting a soft “Sorry”, but she didn’t pay him any attention.

“So why did you asked Winn for a way to battle Kryptonite?”

“Alex, maybe we should get inside,” the man named J’onn said over the angry agent without the need to raise his voice and Lena knew then that he was the boss.

She nodded and took a step to the side. “Of course, please come in.” Lena was less than comfortable having strangers in her apartment, especially strangers who were there to accuse her of locking the world’s greatest hero, but she also knew she had no other option but cooperate.

No one set down and it was quite amusing when all the five of them crossed their arms over their chests and started a staring contest, but Lena kept her mouth shut. Finally, J’onn spoke again. “Ms. Luthor, I hope you understand why we are here.”

“My brother has Superman locked away and you think I have something to do with it.”

“Something like that, yes.” His eyes looked at her up and down like he was measuring her, but Lena didn’t back away.

“If you want to know why I didn’t tell anyone, to start with, I didn’t even know Lex had anything to do with Superman’s disappearance until I came back into town. I also had no idea you guys existed until five days ago,” she said with a shrug.

“And why didn’t you say something then?” the woman asked in a snarl.

Lena fought the urgency to flick her the finger for some reason. “Lack of confidence.” She couldn’t help the bite on her words, but she was satisfied by it when the woman, Alex, took a step closer like she was about to attack her. “How should I know I could trust you and your super-secret agency?”

“You trusted us enough to use our equipment and talk with our agents,” Alex replied.

The Luthor ran her tongue through her lips. “No. I trusted an old friend of mine. _He_ trusted you.” She pretended not to notice how Winn winced behind the group.

“Let me see it,” Alex demanded. “Let me see what you both did.”

Lena only hesitated for a second before she reached out behind her to take the black box from where she had placed it on top of the kitchen table. She cradled it between her hands for a moment, then she reached it towards the redhead, who ripped it from her hand a bit harshly. Lena crossed her arms again to watch as J’onn and Mon-El leaned over the woman’s shoulder to take a look as well, but then her eyes catch Winn’s and she offered him a small smile to let him know it was okay.

She couldn’t blame him for wanting to rescue the Man of Steel.

“Why do you need this for?” J’onn asked.

“Thought it might come to hand,” the CFO shrugged again.

“In hand for what?” Alex snapped back clearly impatient.

Lena raised her brow at her. “To cut some onions.”

Her sarcastic reply caused Alex to take another step closer and the ferocity of her stare made Lena straighten her back and get ready for the train to hit her, but then J’onn placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder and held her back quite easily. Lena allowed herself to relax again, but her eyes didn’t leave the redhead.

“Ms. Luthor, Superman is missing and we now know for certain that your brother has something to do with it. It would do you good if you answer our questions.”

“Are you threatening me, J’onn?”

“Not at all,” his calm voice also didn’t allow her a clear reading of his intentions either, but Lena was taught from an early age to expect the worse from people. “I’m just asking for your help to understand this situation.”

Lena studied him for a second. “You might not believe it, but I’m by your side in this. I have no intention of letting my brother keep Superman his prisoner forever or succeed in whatever is his plan.”

“A Luthor helping a Super?” Alex scoffed. “That has to be the best joke I ever heard.”

“It’s not a joke, agent...” Lena waited for her to fill the space with her last name but, when the woman remained in silence, the brunette threw a sarcastic smile at her direction. “You don’t have to believe in me, but it’s true.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little funny that you returned to the country around the same time your brother decided to go around kidnapping people?” That was the first time Mon-El was speaking and she turned to look at him for a brief second before looking back at Alex. She was glad he wasn’t using his ridiculous suit.

“Life is quite amusing, don’t you think?”

The silence fell on top of the group like a suffocating dome and they kept staring at her for what felt like forever until J’onn took the lead again. He took the box from Alex’s hands, put the lid back on and offered a fake smile at Lena. “Well, Ms. Luthor, we’re going to keep in touch.”

“If we find out you have anything to do with this...”

“It would do no good for you to threaten me, agent,” Lena interrupted Alex with an equally hard tone.

“Alex, let’s go.”

The woman glared at her for a while longer before she turned around and stormed out of her apartment in heavy large steps. Mon-El quickly followed her and Winn did the same after throwing another apologetic glance at her. Finally, after looking at her up and down again, J’onn also turned to leave.

“I hope you’re not trying to steal me.” The man looked back with quirked brows. “I believe that’s mine.” Lena pointed at the box on his hand and he raised it to take a look at it like he didn’t notice it before.

“This can be useful for the DEO, Ms. Luthor,” he said after a minute of consideration. It was clear he didn’t trust her to give it back to her, but Lena wasn’t going to let him walk away with the only thing that could help Kara.

“I’m sure Winn can make a thousand of those in a day now that we know how,” she replied. “But I have an emotional attachment for the first one we made. I’m sure you can understand.”

He hesitated for a while before he huffed a fake laugh and nodded. “Of course, Ms. Luthor.”

When she leaned over to take the box from his hand, their eyes crossed and he stared deep into her soul, almost like he was trying to read her. It only lasted a second, but it was enough to send a shiver down her spine. She watched him go while holding the box against her chest, a deep frown between her brows, and a fast-beating heart.

* * *

“I was so scared for you,” Kara had said the second Lena poked her head in the garage. “It killed me to stay here without hearing anything, without knowing if you were fine or not!”

But Lena had soothed her rushed tone with a gentle smile as she slid the bracelet back on her arm. She had no idea what possessed her then, maybe it was the concern Kara was showing towards her, or maybe it was the way the blonde was looking at her like she was holding the sun on that bracelet, but Lena brought the woman’s hand to her lips once the band was back into place and placed a light quick kiss on the back of it.

She could barely believe how soft Kara’s skin was.

She thought she was going to pass out for a second.

Thankfully she didn’t and when she looked up Kara was so red that she had to blink twice to understand what was going on. Especially when Kara bent down suddenly, slipping one hand under her knees and another under her shoulders, and had Lena on her arms, bridal-style before she could even understand what was about to happen. She yelled and her arms immediately moved to grab Kara’s neck even if the woman hadn’t even moved yet.

All the way down to her penthouse, Lena hid her face on the crook of Kara’s neck while the blonde laughed like the happiest kid ever as she flew the floors to the apartment.

Lena hated flying. She always did and probably always will. And that little adventure didn’t change her opinion even in the slightest.

After the long and absurd day she had, Lena decided she wasn’t feeling like eating, but she knew she had to feed the other woman so she ordered some take-outs from Noonan’s and tried not to stare as Kara inhaled the food across from her in the couch. Instead, she tried to focus on her book and let the words take her to another world. It was working, until a loud moan filled the silence of the penthouse.

Her face flushed in less than a second as her eyes moved to look at the other woman from the rim of her book. Kara was done with the food and was now annihilating the chocolate pecan pie she had ordered as a dessert.

“This is the best dessert I ever ate!” Kara declared between moans of pleasure and sighs of contentment.

Aware that her face was probably as red as Santa, Lena pushed the book a bit closer and higher on her face, using it to hide as she cleared her throat. “Is that so?”

“Absolutely,” Kara replied fast and without a doubt on her voice. “It’s the best dessert in the galaxy! And I have been into a lot of planets, so I can say it!”

Now intrigued, Lena threw her a glance again. “How many planets have you been to?”

The blonde shrugged, stabbing more of the pie with her fork. By now, the large pie was almost gone and Lena was kind of afraid of what would happen once it was over. “Some. I would go with my father back on Krypton to his exploratory missions. He was a scientist and he was teaching me how to be one too.”

Lena nodded slowly. “It must have been really nice.”

“It was, yes,” Kara agreed with a soft smile, clearly lost in memories for a second. “But then everything happened and I was sent here. I had never come to Earth with him, so it was news for me.”

“You were sent here?” Lena asked with a frown.

“Yes. I was supposed to take care of Kal. I’m his older cousin,” the blonde explained as she took the last bite of the pie. She really ate a whole chocolate pecan pie like it was nothing, Lena noticed. Kara sighed and leaned to put the plate back on the coffee table before she threw herself back on the couch, one hand on her slightly swollen stomach.

“You’re older than Superman?” Now that there was no risk of more impure noises, Lena closed her book and lowered it to her lap so she could take a better look at the other woman as she threw her questions.

“Yes. I know it doesn’t look like it. I spent a lot of time on space in my pod and, when I got here, he had already grown up. Time happens differently on space and in other planets,” she added in the end with a shrug.

Lena tugged her legs under herself to turn and face Kara, who was spread over the couch, her feet almost touching Lena’s shins. “How old are you?”

“According to my sister, I was born around the year 1940, maybe the 50’, on Earth.”

Lena’s eyes went comically wide and she huffed a laugh. “Holy shit!” she exclaimed. “If this,” pointing a finger at Kara wasn’t enough so she waved her hand in the woman’s direction to make her point, “is you in your _sixties_ , I can only imagine how you looked on your teens!”

Kara rolled her eyes and stretch her body until she was able to use her foot to push Lena’s knee in retaliation for the tease. “Very fun.” She crossed her arms and retracted her legs so she was as far away as she could manage without moving too much. “You’re much nicer when you’re quiet.”

Lena laughed loudly at that and, eventually, Kara also smiled as she stared at Lena with something shining on her blue eyes that the CFO simply couldn’t read. Instead of putting too much thought into it, Lena reached out to grab her glass of wine to hide her undying laugh.

* * *

Later that night, after drinking too much wine and laughing too many times, Lena slipped inside the bedroom using her new Luthor Corp t-shirt and baggy sweatpants, the nightclothes she was using to sleep now that she was sharing a bed, and sighed as she plugged her phone in the charger.

Kara was already in bed, her back was turned to Lena so she assumed the woman was already sleeping, but then she rolled over once the CFO started to sit on the edge of the mattress. “I have a question.”

Lena quirked one eyebrow and turned to look at the other woman. The light was still on so she could see her perfectly. “You have a – Okay, you can ask.”

Tomorrow was Sunday, Lena reasoned, she could push her sleep state caused by the wine a little longer if Kara had a question to make. It was important, it seemed, because Kara usually just shot her questions without asking first, so Lena decided to pay close attention.

“Are you going to sleep with me?”

Confused, Lena looked to the sheets tangled around the blonde’s legs, then to her improvised PJs, then to the closed curtains just to be sure she wasn’t drunk in the middle of the day – not that it would have been a first. Finally, she looked back at the woman.

“That’s what we’re going to do, no?” For a second, she wondered if Kara was trying to politely ask her to leave the bed and go back to the guest room but then the blonde shook her head.

“No,” she said. “I mean, are you going to have sex with me?”

And maybe it was the wine that was clouding her thoughts and making things slower, or maybe it was the fact that she wasn’t expecting the question at all, but Lena’s first reaction was to ask: “Like, right _now_?” She noticed her voice held a rude amount of alarm into it, like the thought of it was simply horrifying, and she was sure the wine was to blame for that one.

“Not _now_ ,” Kara huffed and shrugged. “Theoretically, does the idea of having sex with me interest you?”

The pause that fell around them was so long that Lena thought that Kara might have fallen asleep with her eyes open and she could pretend that conversation never happened. Maybe she was already asleep and it was just a weird dream.

In the end, Lena cleared her throat and looked away so she didn’t have to stare at Kara’s face when she replied to her. “Not very ladylike to have sex before marriage.” It was a weak attempt to deflate the subject. She knew that and Kara probably knew that as well, but she couldn’t help. Lena was never one to stand confrontations when it came to romantic relationships.

“And you said my ideas of marriage were antiquated just because I wanted to cook for you,” Kara teased with a pout and a slight frown.

Lena smiled almost grievous at that. “You’re certainly something else.” Turning her head to look back at the woman, Lena allowed herself a moment of vulnerability when she noticed blue watery eyes. “I can feel you’re gonna break my heart someday, Kara Zor-El.”

“You’re not that breakable, Lena Luthor,” Kara replied in the same whispered tone. “You know we’re ending up getting married, right?”

“We have talked about this before,” Lena started with a sigh, but the blonde cut her short before she could start her speech about Lex and how she was going to fix everything and how Kara didn’t have to worry about Lex’s threats to her family.

“Not like this, no.” Kara shook her head. “Not after you just confessed I have the power of breaking your heart.”

“Maybe that’s exactly why we shouldn’t talk about it,” the younger woman moved her hand like she was about to brush her knuckles on Kara’s cheek, but she stopped just a breath away before withdrawing her hand slowly. “Is that really what you wanted to ask me?”

“I wanted to ask if we can go to Noonan’s for breakfast tomorrow,” Kara conceded with a sigh.

Despite her racing heart, Lena laughed.

* * *

“If we’re having sex, you need to know something.”

Lena rolled her eyes as she closed the newspaper to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Kara, we’re not having - ”

“Hear me out,” Kara interrupted her by raising one hand, now standing right in front of her chair on the kitchen table. “I have been thinking about it a lot and – “

“What? Jesus!” Lena exclamation didn’t stop Kara from keep going, neither did her wide eyes or the way she leaned over in slight panic.

“ – it’s not fair that Lex didn’t tell you about this, but it’s even less fair that _I_ didn’t tell you this. Even though I’m glad he didn’t.”

“That’s so improper,” Lena whispered under her breath.

Ignoring her again, Kara put both hands against her hips and took a deep breath. “I’m not like other women. Like human women.”

Lena waited for her to elaborate on that, but when she didn’t she was glad she didn’t had to hear any more of that talk. It was certainly putting some ideas in her head that she really didn’t want to have. She reached out for her cup of coffee and took a sip almost so slow that her arm started to hurt.

“Why are you still wearing your glasses?” she asked suddenly.

Kara’s shoulders dropped, either in defeat or relief she wasn’t sure, and she sighed. “I don’t know. You said you liked them.”

“Doesn’t that make your head hurt? Doesn’t it blur your vision?”

“Not really. With my powers back, nothing bothers me.”

Lena hummed and slowly nodded before looking back at the newspaper she was holding before. “What a dream,” she mumbled under her breath, taking another sip of her coffee.

“Why are you drinking coffee? We were supposed to eat breakfast on Noonan’s.”

“I need gasoline to get there.”

Kara frowned. “Isn’t your car electric?”

Lena looked up with a smirk and a raised brow. “I’m letting you figure that one alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lex: I got you a sugar alien.  
> Lena: A what?  
> Lex: Like a sugar daddy, but an alien.  
> Lena: ... I'm actually down for it.


	11. Is it progress if we don't move?

Noonan’s was delightfully empty for a Sunday morning. Or as empty as Lena could wish. At least there was no one sitting by their side or bumping into her chair and that’s all she could ask, really.

“I want to know you,” Kara declared around a mouthful of chocolate pecan pie.

Lena wasn’t even a little surprised that she had asked to go there so she could eat more of it. “What parts?” she teased with a scoff. Her eyes were still glued in the newspaper, but she had a new cup of coffee in her hands.

“All of them,” Kara’s voice was filled with conviction and left no room to a discussion, not that Lena would even know what to say about that. “The good, the bad. The things you think you shouldn’t know, the things you’re embarrassed to tell me. All of it.” She reached out to touch Lena’s arm over the table. “For instance, what are you doing right now? You’re staring at the same page on this paper since we left home!”

Lena hesitated for a couple of seconds before she whispered behind her cup, “Crosswords.”

“Crosswords!” Kara shouted and some people turned to look at them. Even if Lena threw glances around and blushed a little, the blonde paid attention to none of it as she sported a large satisfied smile. “See, it’s not that hard!”

“It _is_ a little hard,” Lena replied as she closed the paper and put it by her side. “I can’t find the last three words.”

“Not what I’m talking about,” Kara rolled her eyes.

“I know what you’re talking about,” the CFO nodded. “You’re talking about opening boxes.”

That gave a pause in the other woman. At first, she frowned in confusion, but then her face slowly started to relax as understanding washed over her. Finally, she reached out again and the tip of her fingers brushed against Lena’s palm.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” she agreed almost shyly.

Lena offered her a smile and, when her palm turned up, Kara didn’t remove her fingers. She interlocked them.

* * *

“You’re more confident,” Lena mumbled as she watched Kara walking down the street with a sweet, distracted smile.

“Uh?” Kara asked, looking through a showcase where some puppies were on display.

“Since you gained your powers back,” the brunette explained. “You became more confident.”

“And that makes you even more nervous around me,” Kara teased without looking back, a small smirk turning her lips up.

Lena, who had stopped behind her while she watched the puppies, chuckled. “I guess it’s true.”

“You make me nervous too.”

“I do?”

Kara turned around with a gentle smile and a nod and they started walking again. “This morning, I woke up regretting some bad decisions made in the dark.”

“Such as?”

“As engaging in a very frank sexual discussion in the middle of the night instead of asking for more pie,” Kara confessed with a giggle and a blush and she tilted her head to the side to watch her companion’s reaction.

“That was very improper,” Lena agreed while battling a smile.

Kara gasped in mocked shock. “I wasn’t aware you’re so _prude_.”

“And I wasn’t aware you aren’t.” She turned to look at the blonde and they shared a secretive smile at their easy teasing.

In the end, the blonde shrugged. “I guess you’re right. I do get more confident with my powers.”

“Some people call it cocky.”

“How do you call it?”

Lena’s smile grew a bit bigger as her eyes turned to face the end of the street again. “I’m going to go with bold.”

They remained in silence until they were walking inside the penthouse again. As she kicked off her shoes, Kara said: “I’m going to call my sister.”

“Hey, Kara,” Lena called out for her, back turned while she removed her coat to hang it behind the door, even though there was a perfectly usable coat closet beside the entry door. “Where does your sister live?”

“Midvale, why?”

Lena shrugged. “I was just wondering. I mean, if you want to ask her to come over, you should do it.”

“Are you serious?”

To the sound of pure bliss on Kara’s voice, Lena finally turned around. “Of course. She’s your sister. I mean, not that I’m going to call Lex over or anything, but if you want – “

“Thank you so much!” Kara’s scream didn’t have the same effect in interrupting her as the quick peck on her lips had.

Kara moved so fast that Lena didn’t even saw her approaching until their lips touched again, as fast as the first time, but with the same effect of racing heart and sweaty palms. And Kara was gone much faster than the last time because she was already calling her sister and storming inside the bedroom.

Lena stood there in front of the door, one shoe in her hand, mouth hung open and slightly shaking hands.

Yep, Kara Danvers was going to break her heart much harder than she initially thought.

* * *

“She’s coming over tomorrow,” Kara announced an hour later when she left the room with a gigantic smile. “She’s in town, can you believe it? She wanted to come over right now, but I don’t want you to lose your only day off.”

Lena shook her head fondly as she closed her book to watch the blonde walking around the living room. “You could have let her come. I’m sure you miss her.”

“Yes, but I will see her tomorrow,” Kara sighed happily. “She said she will bring pizza for dinner.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Lena whispered and moved to open her book again, but Kara had other ideas.

“Thank you. Really. For letting her come here, I mean.”

“Kara,” the CFO sighed. “You’re not my prisoner. You live here too, you can have anyone you want coming over, especially your sister.” Kara bit her bottom lip so hard that it turned white and Lena threw her a worried glance. “What?”

“It’s just... Sometimes is hard to remember.” Kara set down on the couch, not too far away, but not close either, and crossed her arms. “Remember I’m free as long as I’m inside.”

Sensing the heavyweight of the conversation, Lena leaned over to put her book on the coffee table and took a deep breath. “I know I said it a million times before but I’m going to fix this.”

“And what I’m going to do next?” Kara wondered sadly. “Go back to hiding, but in a different place? I lost my life a long time ago. I work from home because it’s too dangerous for me to live in the real world. I don’t even go to restaurants because some of them have installed alien detection devices on their doors now. It’s just – I don’t think you can give me back something I don’t have.”

“What is it that you don’t have?”

“A life, Lena. I don’t have a life,” Kara sighed and she looked so tired for a moment like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, and Lena wanted nothing more than reach over and take it from her. “Right now, all I have is this bracelet who knows my every move.”

Lena couldn’t take the world out of Kara’s shoulders, no. But she could help her carry it.

The shorter woman squirmed in place until she was on her knees, then she moved forward until she was kneeling beside Kara. The woman didn’t look at her when she pressed her warm palm against her cheek, but she did tilt her head to the side to facilitate the touch. Lena pressed her forehead against the side of her head, nose brushing against her temple, lips against her cheek, and took a deep breath.

The smell of fresh oak assaulted her senses and she breathed again.

“You’re always going to have me,” she whispered quietly, barely audible, before pressing a feather-like kiss on the woman’s cheekbone.

Kara took a huge intake of breath, shaky and loud, shoulders losing some of the tension as her arm curled around Lena’s waist to keep her close. “You’re with me?” she asked a confirmation.

“Always,” and Lena delivered it.

Unable to resist anymore, Kara turned her head and captured Lena’s tempting red lips on hers. This wasn’t a peck or a quick as a blink kiss. It was cautious at first, experimenting almost until they found the perfect fit, and then there was no holding back. It was a full-on kiss, scrunched lips, breathless gasps, teeth beating, noses bumping and enough passion to inflame a room.

They didn’t pull away when Kara tugged Lena until she was straddling her thighs, both hands holding the younger woman in place by her hips. Lena moved one hand to the back of Kara’s neck as the other one searched for her equilibrium on the woman’s shoulder, grasping at her Oxford hoodie. The stupid Oxford hoodie, Jesus.

Lena couldn’t hold back and she grinds against the blonde, drawing a long and deep moan from both of them. They broke apart when Kara started to pull Lena’s expensive cardigan over her head. There was a pause when their eyes met for a gaspy moment and then they were kissing again.

This time when Lena grind her hips again, she felt something hard against her middle, but her mind was too clouded for her to take notice of it at first. It was so good, though, that her head fell back with her next moan. Kara took advance of it to glance down because how could she not take a better look at the beautiful woman on top of her using a black laced bra and tight jeans. The image, accompanied by Lena’s soft gasps, made her go hard so fast it was almost embarrassing.

Lena moved her hips again when Kara started sucking at some random spot on her neck and this time she registered the hard thing brushing against her groin. With a frown, she looked down between them as her mind started to race to find an explanation as to why she was feeling that. She needed more evidence to reach a verdict, so she grinds down again, and again, and again until she was basically humping Kara.

To be honest, she was also doing that because it felt so damn good.

“Lena, if you don’t stop – “ Kara gasped on the crook of her neck, hands trying to hold Lena in place at the same time she was helping her ride. “ – I’m going to...”

She didn’t finish and, to be fair, she didn’t have to. Lena grinds one last time, this time pressing her hips roughly against the hard thing between her legs. Then, pressed together and moaning louder at the feeling, she understood.

“Not like every other woman,” she whispered almost in awe as Kara’s words finally sink in.

Kara tensed under her, clearly taking her words to the bad side, so Lena moved fast to put her at ease. Taking her hand from Kara’s shoulder, Lena touched the side of her face and coaxed her to look up. Once she was in the right angle, Lena leaned down and kissed her again at the same time her hips returned the movement from before. The brunette was absolutely sure that there would be a stain on her panties by then and, if she kept doing that, Kara would have a large stain on her own pants.

“Wait, wait,” Lena whispered around their kiss, barely putting any distance between them. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Kara shook her head. “I want to!”

“Are you sure?” Lena asked breathlessly against her lips. The blonde nodded eagerly but she couldn’t form any words. “Are you okay?” Kara nodded again. “Are you sure?” Her question now was directed to Kara’s mental state as she frowned a little.

“Are _you_ sure?”

Lena frown deepened. “I don’t want to rush you to anything, Kara. I would never want you to feel like-“

“I don’t.”

Lena closed her eyes so she would be able to collect her thoughts and sighed. “I need to know you’re sure about this. Sure about us... doing this tonight.”

“We’re here tonight and we both want it,” Kara said firmly, trailing her hands up and down on Lena’s waist. “ _I_ want it.”

“What about tomorrow?” Lena wondered. “Will you still want this after we wake up?”

“I will want this forever, Lena.”

Despite the reassuring words Kara was praying on her ear, Lena dismounted her hips with a huge intake of breath. “We can’t do this.”

Kara looked hurt. “Is it because I’m-“

“No! No! Not at all, Kara!” Lena swore eagerly. “This is about the fact that you’re still my brother’s prisoner.”

“I’m not a prisoner here.”

“Kara, please.”

“Lena,” Kara whispered as she leaned forward to press a kiss on Lena’s jaw. “I want this because it’s _you_.”

“You won’t be saying that once Lex is gone.”

“Come again?” Even if she had heard it perfectly, Kara tilted her head and leaned over as she waited for Lena to repeat the words that felt strange to her ears.

“Well, I can’t imagine you will want to have anything to do with me when that happens” Lena rambled quickly without taking a breath in between phrases and, in the end, she took a deep breath.

Kara turned around as fast as she could, which was pretty fucking fast, and stared deep into green eyes before she started her speech. “I’m not going anywhere.” Lena’s eyes were large and her hands hung in the air between them, but she listened. “For better or for worse, I’m not leaving.” Before Lena could reply, Kara kept talking. “You’re with me forever and I’m with you forever, okay?”

“But Lex – “

“I can accept that you have a fucked up family who’s trying to kill me and my cousin and basically everything that isn’t human. I can accept that you had a hard life before this and that it makes you act like a little robot sometimes, void of emotions and holding people away with a ten-feet pole. I can accept that you like to put things in boxes and forget about them.” Kara offered her the gentlest smile Lena had ever received and she almost gasped loudly at the view. “But I can also accept that you’re loyal and kind, and fierce and that you make me feel safe, despite what your brother did to me. So I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

“What did my brother do to you? You never told me.”

Kara sighed. “He just kept me in a cage, the same he used to display me in front of everyone. He kept me there and he would show up every once in awhile to ask me a question. I had food and water and no one tried to touch me until I tried to punch my way out of there when he told me we were leaving for the meeting. Some big guy with a ridiculous mustache hit me with the back of his gun.”

Lena’s eyes were wide. “Kara, I’m so sor-“

“No, don’t. It’s not your fault.”

“But-“

Interrupting her for what seemed like the thousand times, Kara sighed exasperatedly. “I know I don’t have to stay here. I get I’m not your prisoner, you made it very clear with words and actions and all your generosity. I’m not staying here because you locked me or something. I’m staying because I’m in love with you!”

That certainly quieted Lena’s protests.

Kara was never more proud of herself than when she managed to make Lena Luthor lose an argument.

“You-You're in love with me?” Lena asked after a minute of just being flushed and nervous.

“I thought it was quite obvious, to be fair,” Kara smiled and let her hands drop into her lap.

All Lena could say was “Huh.”

* * *

“Stop that!” Lena hissed. “Stop making me want to kiss you when we have things to do.” She knew it wasn’t fair to ask Kara to stop smiling at her like _that_ , but she had things to do, goddamn!

“You wanna kiss me?” Kara asked like an idiot because of fucking course Lena wanted to kiss her. That's literally _all_ they did the night before, until her lips were too swollen and it became quite frankly a little painfully.

Instead of saying so, Lena sighed and took a sip of her coffee. “Why do I have a feeling that I always end up with a cup of coffee in my hands?”

Kara giggled. “Maybe because that’s the only thing I know how to do in the kitchen.”

“That’s not true,” the CFO replied with a small smirk. “You can also make tea.”

Taking a sip from her mug, Kara nodded. “I can, you’re right.”

Lena finished sending her text over at Winn then turned to face Kara completely. They were sitting on the tall stools on her kitchen counter, Kara by her side, refusing to stay even a minute without touching her somehow.

“I’m going to meet my friend again for lunch so he can keep me informed of what’s going on with our little project. What do you want to eat for lunch? I have a secretary now, can you believe it?”

Kara chuckled. “We should have lunch together someday.”

“Maybe tomorrow. Unless you make plans with your sister since she’s in town.”

That time when Lena walked to the door, Kara followed her. When Lena slipped into her coat, Kara held it out for her. When Lena opened the door, Kara leaned over to kiss her. When Lena turned to leave, Kara reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back in for another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: I like you  
> Lena: BUt DO yoU REallY?  
> Kara: ... What?


	12. Ms. Grumpy Pants and friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting some more today because I probably won't be able to do so tomorrow! Someone has to work, you know!

Winn was providing her coffee, so it wasn’t her fault, right? Kara couldn’t be mad at her if she wasn’t the one who _bought_ the coffee.

“What happened with agent Grumpy Pants?”

“Alex?”

“Yes. She didn’t try to bite me when we crossed paths in the hallway,” Lena scoffed and she flicked a page on the report Winn was showing her. She couldn’t believe they had done such a fucking great work and now had to sign three different reports that had forty pages each.

Bureaucracy is a bitch.

“Her sister called,” Winn answered in a whisper like he was scared Alex might jump from the corner and beat the hell out of him for giving her personal information. Lena was sure it was something she could do. “She’s fine, can you believe it? Over a month without having any news, then she gets a few very encrypted texts that she wasn’t even sure were from her sister and then she gets a call and her sister says she’s in town. Like, this town, Lena!” He shook his head. “None of us could believe this. We were all so worried about Kara and she was right under our nose this whole time!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Lena looked at him with furrowed brows and waving hands. “Come again?”

“What part?”

Lena blinked slowly. How could she have not realized it before? “Winn, what’s Alex's last name?”

“Danvers, why?”

* * *

“Your sister is going to kill me!”

“I honestly don’t think she will.”

“Oh, but I totally think she’s going to!” Lena shouted as she paced back and forth around the living room. Kara, who was calmly watching her from the couch, quirked one eyebrow at her explosion. “She already hates me and now she’s about to find out I kept her sister captivity!”

“You didn’t keep me in captivity.”

“She doesn’t know that!” The CFO threw her hands in the air in frustration. “She thinks I’m working with Lex and that I have something to do with Superman’s disappearance and now... Now she’s going to think I kidnapped you and she’s going to kill me!”

“Lena – “

“And, oh my God, I’m a dead person.” Lena had never freaked out so much before, she could feel her heart squeezing on her chest and some black spots showing on her vision, and she tried to take a deep breath to calm down. “I ravished her little sister!”

That made Kara chuckle a little. “You didn't ravish me. Are you truly scared of my sister?”

“Kara, you have no idea how she looked at me the times we met!” Lena looked at her with wide scared eyes, pointing a finger to her own chest. “And the way I talked with her! She’s going to run over me like a train!”

“Lena – “

“She’s going to bite me, chew me, spit me and then step all over me,” Lena’s voice became a whisper suddenly and she sighed. “She’s quite scary.”

“Sometimes,” Kara agreed. “But she has a good heart.”

“She’s taking you away. There’s no way she’s letting you stay here, especially when we found out your sister has a complete secret agency to protect you from my brother. She probably thinks I was the one who took you away to start with!”

Kara placed two gentle hands against her arms and tried to smile at her. “Let me deal with her."

* * *

Lena wasn't proud of herself for doing that but the second Kara turned to open the door for her sister, she ran to the closest bathroom and closed the door.

She was scared, sue her. Alex Danvers is a very terrifying woman and she already hated Lena and all of her family. She had enough reasons to kill her and now she would only pile some more into it. Lena was a dead woman the second Kara texted the address of where she was staying for her sister to come meet her.

And even though she made jokes about it almost all of her life, Lena didn't actually want to die. Especially now that she had found a reason to keep breathing.

So when she heard a loud and angry "Where is she?" from the other side of the door, she shrunk into herself a little. Because she would have to get out and face agent Danvers at some point, and then she was getting murdered.

No big deal.

Lena didn't hear Kara's reply, but she managed to take some deep breaths to calm down before she pushed the door open and peaked outside. Alex was standing by the door looking as mad as Lillian Luthor when Lena walked inside a room and Kara was a little to her side, waving her hands and talking in fast whispers.

Probably begging for Lena's life, she thought. Kara had a good soul like that.

The second Alex noticed they weren't alone anymore, she motioned to approach Lena - and probably stab her once she was close enough - but Kara stepped in front of her before she could. She walked happily to where Lena was standing at the end of the hallway and offered her a smile.

"Were you hiding in the bathroom?" she asked a teasing tone.

"No! I needed to pee." Lena looked at her in such an offended manner that she almost believed her answer.

Kara hummed and nodded in a taunting manner but left no room for Lena to try and defend herself again. She turned around so she was facing Alex again and slowly slid her arm around Lena's waist. The redhead's eyes seemed to burn a hole on Lena's hips and the CFO crossed her arms like an armor.

"Alex, before you say anything, Lena has nothing to do with Lex's plans. She never hurt me, in fact, she saved me from a very bad destiny and welcomed me inside her house with no intention of causing me any harm." It was a beautiful speech on behalf of her character, Lena thought, but then Kara kept talking. "And we're getting married!"

Lena could see the exact moment Alex decided to kill her.

* * *

"I thought she was going to be happy for us."

"How could she be happy to know her little sister was sold out to marry me?!"

"... So you're admitting you bought me?"

"God's sake, Kara!"

Lena closed the bedroom door on the blonde’s face, deciding she was going to face the bull with her head high and Kara could deal with the consequences of her jokes later.

* * *

Lena couldn’t help but squirm in the stool Kara had forced her to sit on as she watched Alex with wary eyes. Alex was standing as far away from Lena and closer to her sister as she could and she still had to stop glaring at the brunette.

Lena wondered if Alex’s power was setting people on fire with her mind because it felt like that was what she was trying to do. If she succeeds, Lena would love to see her doing the same with Lex.

Kara was standing by the sink, pouring hot water into a mug, back turned ar them and, if Lena didn’t know better, she might think the woman was just going to ignore them until the problem was gone.

And by ‘problem’ she meant herself.

Thankfully though, Kara turned around after putting three sugar cubs into her tea, holding the mug with one hand as she used the other one to hand one mug at Alex and then at Lena. The CFO said a prayer in her head when she saw that Kara was granting her coffee rights because the last thing she wanted was to have that conversation while drinking tea.

“So...” Alex started and Lena immediately moved uncomfortably in her chair. “How much?”

“How much what?” Kara asked, a smile still in place, as she leaned against the counter a few feet from Alex, cradling her mug between her hands.

Standing there using old sweatpants and a t-shirt, hair looking like a mess and glasses going foggy as she brought her mug to take a sip of her hot tea, she had the potential to look so cute that would cause Lena to burst into tears. But considering Alex was still staring at her like _that_ , Lena decided it would do no good to comment on that.

“How much did you _pay_ for my sister?” Alex’s voice was filled with venom and her eyes were daggers. She wasn’t raised by Lillian Luthor, though. Lena might be shitting in her pants but she would never let the woman notice it.

“A lot,” Lena answered nonchalantly.

Kara gasped almost insulted. “Not enough,” she corrected exasperatedly.

Lena clicked her tongue. “Or that.”

“Is it funny to you, Ms. Luthor?” Alex spatted quite angrily. “Is it funny that my sister was sold out like a whore?”

“Rao, Alex!” Kara breathed out in shock, ready to defend herself and Lena. “I’m not a whore.”

“That’s not what I-“

“I’m soon to be a married woman!” This time, both Alex and Lena turned to stare at her with blank expressions like neither of them could believe she was actually saying that. Kara deflated a little but kept her ground. “No sense of humor, Rao.”

And then she had the audacity, the true and pure _audacity_ , to look at Lena in a way that said _‘You better fix this’_. The boldness of this woman was out of this world, truly – and quite literally.

“We’re not getting married,” Lena promised in a low voice as she slowly moved her eyes back to Alex. She decided that the best course of action was to ignore Kara all together.

“I’m going to give you one chance,” Alex whispered. “One chance to explain what the hell happened. If you can’t convince me, I’m taking you back at the DEO and I’m going to lock you until your grandchildren send their grandchildren out for college.”

Lena gulped discreetly but Kara beat her to speak first. “The DEO? The super-secret place J’onn works at?”

Alex nodded at her sister and Lena noticed how much softer her face became when she was talking with her. That only proved her point that Alex was going to kill her. “After you went... missing, I started working there as well. I wanted to help in every way I could, so J’onn finally allowed me to join in.”

“What about your job with the Midvale Police Department?”

“I quit,” Alex shrugged. “And moved here.”

“Alex! You can’t drop your life and-“

“Kara,” the redhead interrupted her with a sigh. “Can we please don’t discuss this now? What I did after they took you barely matters right now.”

When Kara frowned but didn’t reply, Lena opened her mouth to start pleading for her life, a.k.a explain to Alex how her sister ended up in her apartment. However, as soon as she hissed the first syllable, Kara decided she wasn’t done yet.

“What about Eliza? They didn’t hurt her, did they?”

Alex shook her head. “No, she’s totally fine. They didn’t hurt her, they just kept her away until you were gone but other than that she’s fine.”

Kara relaxed, her hold on the mug easing a bit, and Lena took it as a sign that she could finally speak.

“I know it’s hard to believe but I’m not helping Lex with any sick plot he might have,” she started and Alex turned to look at her again almost like she had forgotten she was there in the first place. Lena liked her best when she was looking away, she decided. “In fact, I have reasons to believe I’m also a victim here.”

“Oh, really?” Alex taunted. “Care to explain how hard your life must be right now?”

Lena bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the sarcasm dripping from the redhead’s words but she had to admit it was a poor choice of words. “Lex convinced me to come back to the US and move to National City to work on Luthor Corp with him. When I got here, he managed to push me a wife.”

“You’re missing details,” Kara whispered around her tea but Lena ignored her.

“I’m sure I’m a part of his plan as well. I don’t know exactly what my part is, or what he truly wants with this, but it’s the only explanation I have for what happened.” Lena sighed and took a sip of her coffee to gain a couple of minutes to collect her thoughts. “I promise you I have no intention of harming Kara in any form or way. I did... _buy_ her, but only because I wanted to set her free once we were out of there. Unfortunately, Lex predicted that and put a tracker on her, along with a Kryptonite ring.”

Alex gasped at that, placing her mug on the counter a bit too hard, and stormed her way towards her sister. Her hands touched Kara’s face before Lena could even wrap her mind about what was going on. “Kryptonite?! Oh my fucking God, Kara! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Alex.” The blonde gave her a warm smile that crinkled her eyes and showed the mark on her cheek and Lena couldn’t help but stare. “Lena found a way to stop the effects of it.”

“The bracelet,” Alex whispered with a frown, her eyes moving to a point over her sister’s shoulder as she lost herself in thoughts. “The bracelet you did with Winn.”

Lena nodded when the agent turned to look at her. “Yes. I needed something to cut the effects of the Kryptonite since we couldn’t remove or break the ring.”

When Kara showed her hand, Alex took the member between her palms to study the collar Lex had managed to slip on her. It was a collar, Lena had decided a while ago, it might not be around Kara’s neck, but it worked just the same. The woman’s fingers traced the ring, the gold in the back of Kara’s hand and the wristband at the end, finding the lock easily.

“Why do you still have it? If the anti-Kryptonite bracelet works, you can just break it and take it off.”

“If she breaks it then Lex will know we’re up to screw his plan,” Lena explained gently. “The tracker is on the band.”

“We can trace the signal,” Alex let go of Kara’s hand and turned around to face Lena with crossed arms. “If we find it, we can play him off. We can lock the signal here in your apartment and he will think she just never leaves.”

“I thought about it,” Lena confessed with a nod. “But Lex is smart and he has some smart goons as well. There’s a risk he will realize what we’re trying to do before we can do it and then he finds out we’re up to screw his plan.”

Alex sighed deeply as her frow intensified.

“If my opinion is worthy of something here, _nerds_ ,” Kara said. “I would like to have this thing removed, no matter the cost.” She squirmed a little when all they did was stare at her. “It’s ugly,” the blonde defended her opinion quickly. “And this makes me feel like we’re not...” Waving one hand around, she tried to find the right word. “equal.”

Lena’s eyes instantly softened at that, her finger twitching as the will to touch the other woman grew almost to the point of boiling. “I would remove it if I was sure nothing bad would happen to you if we did it.”

“Not so fast, Luthor.” Alex scoffed. “I still don’t trust you. Am I just supposed to believe you have nothing to do with Lex’s plan? That you have nothing to do with Superman’s kidnap or my sister’s kidnap?”

“Well, to be honest, I wasn’t here when they were kidnapped.”

“Have you ever heard of a phone?”

Lena quirked one eyebrow at the fast, hard reply. She was a little impressed, honestly. “I don’t know how to make you believe in me, agent Danvers. I told you I have nothing to do with it, I proved to you I gave Kara her powers back, and I’m promising you I have every interest in taking Lex down as much as everyone else.”

“She didn’t hurt me, Alex.” Kara jumped in to defend the other woman. “Actually, to be fair, since I got here she had been nothing more than welcoming. She’s telling you the truth, Al.”

Alex hesitated, eyes moving between both women before she took a deep breath. “How can I be sure?”

“I’m telling you and I’m asking you to take my word into this.” The blonde smiled at her sister and nudged her arm.

Alex allowed being shoved with an eye-roll. Then her black eyes moved back to Lena and the piercing glare made the CFO squirm again. “If I find out you lied to me, or that you hurt my sister, or even if you had any plan to do so, I’m going to kill you.”

Lena had no doubts about that.

“And I’m bringing the DEO the next time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: Alex, meet my wife!  
> Lena: I'm not the wife! Please, don't kill me!


	13. Selfishly petty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out I managed to post a chapter today! Yay! But only one, I have no time for more, my bad!

“Having a wife does you good,” Sam teased as she looked around to the hundreds of books her friend had lying around.

“She’s not my wife,” Lena protested with a growl.

“Could have fooled me.” The taller woman put her cup of wine down and smiled. “So, where’s the spouse?”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Walking around the block.”

“You should have kids,” Sam pointed out like she was talking about the weather.

Lena looked back up quickly, mouth open in shock as she stared at her old friend like a second head had popped in her ass. “Wha-What?”

Sam’s eyes left the rack and moved until she was staring at her friend. “Lex called me back in town, as you can see, to tell me I might need to occupy your chair soon. And by ‘soon’ I mean nine months, and by ‘occupy your chair’ I mean cover your license.”

The other woman groaned almost like she was in pain and allowed herself to fell on the couch beside her friend. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she mumbled under her breath.

“I know you said this is all Lex’s fault and you insist that you two won’t get married for real, but do you mind if I ask you something?” And before Lena could say ‘no’ or change the subject, her friend was already talking. “Why do I have the impression that – “

Sam was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing, and they both turned to look at the hallways that lead to the entryway. Kara walked inside a second later with a shy smile and hands behind her back. Lena knew by instinct what she was carrying between her hands and tried to cover her smile with a cough.

“Hi.”

“Hello,” Sam taunted with a smirk.

She knew she was trapped when Sam stared at the side of her face – investigative and almost cocky like she was Sherlock fucking Homes – when Kara handed her the improvised daisies bouquet. Even if Sam already had material enough and Lena had already embarrassed herself for blushing earlier, she brought the daisies to her nose and smelled.

It smelled like nothing.

But it also smelled like fresh oak and she smiled.

* * *

“Do you really love me?”

Kara stopped chopping the onion Lena had asked her to chop for only a second before she resumed the task with a soft smile.

If anyone could see her then, looking so innocent and happy to help Lena with dinner, no one would ever imagine she tried to escape the mission by pretending she didn’t know where Lena kept her knives. She literally showed up holding a scissor. It’s worth mentioning she was the one who took things out of the boxes. Lena called her bullshit by throwing an onion into her face. Sadly, Kara easily grabbed that.

“That’s what I said,” the blonde said, the perfect little smile never faltering.

“It was, yes,” Lena replied thoughtfully as she fried some vegetables. “It’s odd... don’t you think?”

“You’re asking me if I think _love_ is odd?” Kara asked, watching the other woman out of the corner of her eye.

“No,” Lena shook her head and sighed. “Us. Don’t you think that _us_ is odd?”

Kara only breathed for a couple of seconds, then she shrugged. “A little bit, yes.”

“You’re not saying this just because my brother has a hold on you, are you? This isn’t because Lex threatened your family or because you still believe we have to get married or he’s going to hurt someone else, is it?”

“No.”

Kara’s simple, yet quick, answer took Lena out of surprise for a moment. She added some potatoes into her pan and cleaned her hands in the apron she was using before speaking again. “I’m not used to hear those words directed at me. I’m sorry if I'm sounding a little... distrustful.”

The blonde shrugged again but there were no harm feelings behind her actions. “That’s okay.”

There was another long pause while Kara brought the onions towards the stove and Lena added them into the pan. The taller woman stood by her side for a while, watching as she stewed the vegetables for their soup, and the silence remained until Lena sighed.

“Why do you love me?” she wondered aloud. Kara turned to look at her face and noticed a big frown between her eyebrows like she was thinking really hard about something.

Kara hummed, pursed her lips and crossed her arms as she leaned against the counter to rest. “Because you cook,” she settled on after going on an always expanding list of reasons why she had fallen in love with Lena Luthor.

Lena breathed out a laugh, a little taken aback with the answer, but amused all the same. “That’s it? I cook?” she asked without looking even remotely bothered by it.

Kara chuckled and shook her head. “No, that’s not it.”

When she didn’t elaborate on her answer, Lena glanced at her over her shoulder. “What is it, then? What plausible reason could there be for you to love the woman who’s the sister of the man who committed so many awful crimes against you?”

“You’re trying to make the right thing, that’s good enough for me.”

“That’s all? I’m _trying_?”

Kara sighed and closed her eyes. “You weren’t kidding when you said you’re not used to hearing those words, huh?”

“No, not really,” the brunette’s reply was quick and bitter even to her ears.

Blue eyes opened to scan the side of a beautifully sharped jaw and Lena almost, almost, apologized for bringing a frow into her perfect face. “I think it’s unfair how ‘I love you’ is only three words. Love is too big to fit in only three words.” There was a pause where Lena had no idea what to say to this and where Kara was just enjoying the view of Lena mixing food together. “You gave me room to grow and become myself, even while I’m stuck in a very bad situation. And you gave me a lot of yourself without asking for anything in return other than time to make things right.”

Lena blushed so hard that one might think Kara had said some very dirty words. “You gave me a lot too,” she whispered almost shyly and the blonde chuckled.

“Yes. You were very benefited by my organization skills, as we can see no boxes around.” This time, Lena also laughed softly at her joke before she reached out to fill the pan with hot water. Kara kept watching her with a smile. “This isn’t about Lex,” she promised. Lena bit her bottom lip to stop it from trembling. “If you wanna know how I know I love you it’s because I enjoy you as well.”

Lena finally turned to look at her, now with a larger smile and a more relaxed expression., one hand on the counter beside the stove and the other one on her hips. “I never heard that before either.”

“Unlike you, I like to use my words, not that I have much choice since I have no money to spend.”

“Hey, I’m getting better with words,” Lena defended herself only half-heartedly.

“Try out.”

Her face was as red as the tomato she had dropped on the pan before but Lena wasn’t one to back away from a challenge. “You’re very dear to me.”

With a large smile and a sparkle on her eyes, Kara breathed: “Golly.” Lena rolled her eyes and threw a dishrag against her chest. “What part of me is more dear to you? Wait, don’t tell me! Let me guess.”

“Honestly, I take everything back. You’re awful.”

“Is it my ass? I feel like it’s my ass.”

Before Lena could reply with some good words, Kara leaned over to kiss her. Shutting Lena up was officially her new favorite activity.

* * *

The reason why Lena was never called dumb was that, since she was a toddler, she learned to question things. She was asking ‘why’ and ‘how’ before she knew how to walk. She knew more ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ than any other kid when she reached kindergarten.

Asking questions was the thing that kept her informed and, more than that, sane. That’s why she kept shooting more and more questions at Kara even after they had laid in bed and said their goodnights.

“Are you bothered that I’m a woman?”

“Why would it bother me?”

“I don’t know. Have you ever dated a woman before?”

“Lena, I had never dated _anyone_ before.” To that point, Kara had answered every single one of her questions only sounding a little annoyed and with some occasional sighs. “And things worked really different in Krypton. You, humans, are very... close-minded when it comes to things like this.”

“Oh,” Lena finally said and silence fell over them until her inquisitive nature awoke again. “What would your family say?”

“Dad is long gone but he would probably be less concerned with the fact that you’re a woman than with the fact that you know nothing about baseball,” the blonde said honestly. “Mom is going to ask what your intentions are, then she will pretend not to like you to see what you would do win her over. I saw her doing that with Alex in the past, it’s fun, she’s a player. In the end, all she cares is if you ever made me cry.”

“And Alex?”

“She’s going to kill you.”

Lena gulped, eyes staring more intensely at the ceiling above her, palms clenching on her stomach when it did a sickening turn. A second later she heard giggles by her side and she swore that she was not going down alone. Kara deserved it for making fun of her when her sister was clearly trying to murder her.

“Alex sounds as lovely as she looks like.”

“You two could get along if the circumstances were a little different,” Kara spoke with a taunting tone and a barely hidden laugh that made Lena’s heart swell despite the tone of the conversation.

“I wish we had met in different circumstances as well,” Lena replied with a sigh.

“Perhaps. Maybe I could have waltz inside your office and offered myself.” The blonde didn’t wait for a comment. “What about your family?”

Lena scoffed. “I think you know how Lex would feel.”

“Your mom?”

“I’m adopted,” the younger woman said suddenly instead of answering. “Did I ever tell you that?”

“No, you didn’t.” Kara rolled over until she was facing the brunette, both hands under her pillow and blanket up to her chin.

Lena nodded. “I was adopted when I was four.”

She said nothing else and Kara felt like she wasn’t going to share much more, so she simply smiled. “Guess we have more in common than we thought.”

"I doubt it. I definitely wouldn't have called my mom if I ever got kidnapped like you did. Well, I think I would have to call her and ask her to let me go." Lena closed her eyes as she took a deep tired breath. “I wish I had more to give you. More safety, to start with.”

“And I wish I had more of a life so we could live it together.”

One of the boxes flood and Lena squeezed her eyes shut tighter. From a young age, she had learned to ask questions and that there wasn’t much more that she was allowed to take other than knowledge. Comfort, love, and affection were things she was always taught she wasn’t welcome to take. Surely nobody in the Luthor residence would ever _give_ it to her freely, but she also wasn’t allowed to ask for it, to reach out, to _want_ it.

So when Kara reached out for her hand and interlocked their fingers, it felt like Lena was giving comfort and not _taking_ it. It felt like the touch was something Kara needed, not _her_. It felt like Kara wanted her to stay, not that _she_ wanted to.

Lena never felt like she belonged anywhere before. She wasn’t sure she could trust that feeling.

“You don’t have to put me on a box,” Kara whispered in the dark. “We’re in this together.”

Falling in love can change a lot of things, Lena realized.

* * *

“If this doesn’t work out-“

“Don’t you trust yourself, Luthor?”

Lena rolled her eyes so hard that she could almost see the back of her skull. “I would appreciate if you could stop making accusations against me inside my own house.”

“Someone is sensible today.”

“Alex,” Kara warned from her place on the couch. “Lena is trying to help.”

The redhead sighed and plopped her feet on the coffee table a bit harshly causing Winn’s tea to spill a little. “Fine.”

Kara walked towards Lena with a smile but stopped just before she could touch her. “You sure you wanna do this?”

“It’s only talking with my brother. I have at least two of those every day, unfortunately.” Lena took a deep breath. “Besides, I need to protect you, don’t I?”

“I can protect myself.”

“Not while you're using this, no.” Lena pointed at Lex’s bracelet in her arm and sighed. “Don’t worry, I will distract him so Winn can hack the signal and then you’re going to be free.”

“Finally,” Alex breathed loudly from behind them but Kara ignored her.

“So go, go chit-chat with your brother.”

Lena rolled her eyes as she turned around to leave. “The things I’m willing to do to keep you safe,” she whispered on her way out.

* * *

It was like torture, Lena thought to herself when she glanced at her clock and noticed she had been listening to Lex for over ten minutes. She wasn’t sure she could take much more of that.

Winn had asked for an hour, Lena said she could give him half. She wanted to leave in the first two minutes.

“Did you set up the paperwork for your marriage already?” Lex asked suddenly in the middle of his rambling about the financials.

Lena’s breath almost catches on the back of her throat but she managed not to show.

“Actually,” she started slowly. “I think we will push it a little longer.” The way Lex’s face hardened and his expression changed were all Lena needed to confirm her theory

“Why would you do that?” he asked in mockery. “You did pay a lot of money to get her, dear sister.”

“I know,” Lena nodded. “But there’s no rush for us to get married.”

Something flicked in Lex’s eyes and it seemed like he was going to say there was a lot of rush for that to happen actually, but then he chuckled void of any emotion and leaned over the table to rest his forearms against the glassy surface. “Problems in Paradise?”

“Far from that,” the woman shook her head.

“Well,” Lex snorted. “I hope you can solve this little thing between you two until the ball on Saturday.”

“The ball?” Lena snapped as she quirked one eyebrow.

“The annual ball, Lena. Don’t tell me you forgot!”

“I didn’t. I just didn’t know I was expected to go.”

Lex scoffed. “Of course you are! You’re my sister and our new CFO!”

Lena wanted to point out that being his sister never meant a free invitation for things before. Usually, people would ask her _not_ to go because she was his sister but that was a box she wasn’t willing to open just yet.

“Bring the wife.”

Lena was starting to wonder if no one could hear her. Or maybe she was speaking in a language no one else could understand. Kara wasn’t her _wife_. They weren’t going to get _married_. Christ.

“I’m going to ask if she wants to go.”

Her brother looked at her with a darker expression suddenly. His dark eyes stared deeply into her and any resemblance of the boy who played chess with her when she was a kid was gone. “You shouldn’t _ask_ , Lena. Haven’t I taught you anything, dear sister?”

Lena knew he was talking about the fact that, to him, aliens had no voice, no opinion, no right to be alive. She knew he was talking about the fact that, to him, Lena owned Kara and, as an extension to it, she had every right to make decisions for her. She knew all of it and she disagreed with every single one of them

Yet, she nodded. “You’re right.”

She agreed because she knew it would make Lex happy. And a happy Lex would keep talking and Winn could keep working and Lena could keep poking around to find more pieces of information they could use. It made her sick if she was going to be honest, but she had to play her part.

“Of course I am,” Lex breathed a dark laugh and moved to stare at the papers he had around his desk.

Lena decided to take a risk. “What happened to Superman?”

His eyes glanced at her almost in shock that she dared to ask him a question. “You don’t have to worry about that, Lena. I’m taking care of everything.”

“What is ‘everything’, Lex? Why do you have Superman?”

“Can you imagine all the things we can learn with him, Lena? All the information he has?” She took notice of how Lex’s eyes were shining with some different type of feeling and she almost shrunk on her chair. He looked mad, truly mad. “For instance, we would never have found out there was another one like him if I had never questioned him!”

“So that’s how you found out about Kara,” Lena pointed out in a low voice. One mystery down.

Lex opened his arms like he was saying _“see my point?”_ and nodded vigorously. “Do you understand the importance of having Superman now?”

Lena gulped as she tried to get ready for her next question. “How did you got him to talk?”

He watched her for a couple of seconds before he chuckled. “Not too hard, to be honest. All I had to do was say his wife’s name.”

“Say his wi-What?”

Lex shrugged. “He thought I didn’t know.”

Lena had never met Superman in person but she felt a connection with him beyond anyone else. She could never blame him for telling about Kara. She could _never_ hold it against him.

She would probably have done the same if some psychopath has threatened her... Kara.

* * *

“Did you do it?” Lena asked over the phone as soon as she was safe back into her office.

“All done,” Winn answered her with clear pride in his voice.

She felt selfish and petty but she simply couldn’t feel the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lena: I made a list of pros and cons about myself and I think you should take a look at it before saying you love me.  
> Kara: Lena, this is absurd and... There are literally no pros here. This is just a list of cons. Two pages of it.  
> Lena: ... Your point?


	14. This is going to be a ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more! Again, I can't assure there's going to be another one since I have to go to work but, hopefully, there will be!  
> Also, the rating on this is going up now for the reason I think you were all waiting for hahaha (sexy times ahead, be aware)

She was scared Kara would be gone when she got home.

Lena thought she would open her door and there would be no one there. That she would have to walk around the empty space and learn how to live without Kara.

She thought that was when her heart would be broken by her. She thought she was about to find out how breakable she truly was.

Except that she was wrong.

"Hey! Welcome back!" Kara's greeting didn't just warm her heart but also made her whole body melt. "How was work today?"

Lena sighed, throwing her purse on the armchair so she had free hands to wrap her arms around the blonde's neck. "Very tiring "

"Oh, poor lady." Kara pouted. If she was anyone else, Lena might have punched it away but since it was Kara she just thought it was cute. "Do you want me to make you some tea?"

Lena shook her head, furrowed brows in frustration with something not even her could understand. "Jesus, Kara. I miss you so much. I missed kissing you so much today," she said with her face hiding in the hollow of Kara's troat.

"Uh..."

Noticing how stiff Kara was, Lena leaned away from her to study her face. "What?"

"Well..." Kara fiddled with her glasses between a nervous chuckle. "Alex decided it was a good idea to leave something behind so we could communicate with the rest of the team. It's a com." She tapped her right ear.

Lena gasped loudly and, so out of character, slammed both hands against her mouth. "Oh no. Oh no. Tell me it's not working yet!" she begged with wide eyes and a racing heart.

Kara moved her hand to the back of her neck, where she scratched the skin there. "You would be surprised by the amount of curse words Alex knows."

"Your sister is going to kill me."

"Now she might, yes," Kara agreed eagerly.

* * *

Lena made Kara promise she wouldn’t let Alex kill her. She made her cross her heart and swear because Lena was a Luthor and the Luthor way of dying was to get killed by your own family and not by your girlfriend’s family.

“So... I’m your girlfriend?” Kara teased her with a wide grin and dancing eyebrows.

And even though she had no reason to, she blushed. “Well, we’re kissing for a few days now.”

“But you haven’t taken me out on a date yet.”

Lena quirked one eyebrow. “Why should _I_ take _you_ out?”

“You’re right, I should do it.” Kara nodded as she picked another pickle straight from the jar. “I would add a romantic touch to it.”

The brunette gasped loudly as she pulled the jar away from Kara’s reach, causing the other woman to stare at her in shock and hurt. “I can be very romantic!” Lena quickly defended herself as she held the pickles against her chest.

Kara’s signature smile made an appearance and Lena almost forgot how to breathe for a second. “Then you better start touching things.”

Before Lena could react, the taller woman had reached out to steal a pickle from the jar and she gasped as Kara laughed and jumped away like a kid doing a big mess. When she put the jar on the counter, slid off the bench and ran after Kara, she knew she had no real chance of getting her.

Kara was officially free. She wasn’t using Lex’s wristband or the ugly ring and she didn’t need to use the anti-Kryptonite one either. Free of the green abomination, Kara was in full possession of her powers. Free of the wristband, Kara was in full possession of her life decisions again.

So truly Lena wasn’t expecting to be able to come even near the blonde when they started the little game of tag. But she did.

Kara was running down the hallway when she turned around suddenly, almost causing Lena to crash straight into her. With wide eyes, Lena was able to slow down enough to only land in her arms a little hard and the whole thing made them giggle and laugh loudly as they held each other.

Lena could pinpoint the exact moment the air around them changed.

Kara’s hand had slid down her waist and her own hands had raised to Kara’s shoulders. They were still laughing, just starting to calm down, and then their eyes met. The blonde’s laugh immediately died in her throat and Lena only managed a few more distracted giggles before she also stopped, lost in a vastness of blue. And love.

Funny. She always thought red was the color of love.

Suddenly Kara bent down and kissed her fiercely. It was much like the kiss they had shared on the couch a few days prior but different all the same. Different because Kara was definitely sweeping her off her feet there – literally or figurative, she couldn’t actually tell. She felt truly at Kara’s mercy, any doubts being quickly erased.

Lena wasn’t sure when it happened but she realized her shirt was gone when her back hit the wall by her left. Kara had turned them over so she could press Lena there and she would have given Kara anything in the world if she had asked at that moment. Hell, she would probably find a way to give her something from outside the world if that’s what she wanted in her sweet little heart.

The move was so smooth and maybe a little too well done, and Lena felt a sting of jealousy in her ugly heart. She wasn’t sure Kara would find competitiveness to be sexy. She hoped so. She desperately wanted her to.

The shiver that went down her spine when Kara nibbled at her bottom lip was both breathtaking and legs shaking. But then two strong hands moved from her hips to the back of her thighs – not an ass person, there wasn’t a squeeze, Lena noticed. Kara pulled her legs up so she could wrap them around her waist and Lena gasped completely out of breath when she was raised to be in the same eye-level as her.

Her gasp had caused their lips to come apart and Lena opened her eyes in a silent plea to keep kissing those deliciously pink full lips. Their eyes met again and Kara chuckled softly when she noticed how blown Lena’s pupils were. It was a sound from the back of her throat, straight from her core, and it went straight to _Lena’s_ core, so she moved her hips down and rolled them once the best she could, trying to find some very needed friction for both of them.

Kara moaned loudly when their lips locked again and her hands moved to grasp at Lena’s ass when she took a step back. So maybe an ass person. Lena would have to do further investigations on the matter.

Once inside the room, Kara laid the brunette on the bed carefully and precisely in the middle, effectively breaking their kiss. Lena’s hand moved to undo the lace on her sweatpants and push it down as Kara’s lips attacked her neck and collarbone again. When she couldn’t reach the pants anymore, her expert fingers found the end of the hoodie and started pulling up until Kara got on her knees to take it off.

Jesus fucking Christ, her abs. Lena had seen her arms before and they were already mouth-watering enough, but her abs. Shit, her abs. Lena couldn’t think about anything else besides that. Her ridiculously _gorgeous_ abs. She even had a faint V-line. Was she drooling? Lena felt like she was drooling.

Feeling the heat of Lena’s look, Kara smiled and reached over to hook her fingers around Lena’s jeans. The CFO lifted her hips to allow the woman to pull them off and throw them somewhere on the floor underneath her. Then Kara stood, almost stumbling as her pants fell and tangled on her feet, and she blushed a cute shade of red as she kicked them off.

Lena could have laughed off the absurd of it, but then the blonde climbed back on top of her and every thought that wasn’t abs and warm lips were gone. The next clothing item to go was Lena’s bra, pulled away so fast that it almost ripped on Kara’s hands, then it was the blonde’s sports bra and they moaned loudly at the first feeling of their naked torsos touching.

Kara’s erection stood proudly on her white boxers and Lena didn’t think twice before she moved to get rid off the boxers. Her hand closed around a hard, throbbing, hot cock immediately after that and Kara’s breath got stuck on the back of her throat when she gasped. Lena was so aroused that she could feel it on her thighs, even more so when Kara pulled out her panties.

“Wait,” Kara whispered around her nipple and her hand moved to hold Lena’s wrist to stop her moves when the woman’s thumb teased the tip of her cock. “Wait, I – “ Lena truly prayed to every God that might exist that Kara didn’t decide to stop now because there was no amount of cold shower that could help her at the moment. “I have never – I never – I don’t...”

Lena almost stopped then. Instead, she pressed her palm against the side of Kara’s face and turned her head up until the blonde was looking at her again. Kara was red, looking so shy, so young and so lost that Lena almost called out the whole thing but then her hard-on brushed on Lena’s bare stomach and her clit throbbed in delight and she couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Kara, it’s okay.” She tilted her head and pressed a gentle kiss on the woman’s lips, a caress to calm her nerves. “I’m here. I can guide you.”

Kara’s face flushed even harder and she gulped. “I’m afraid I’m going to hurt you,” she confessed quietly.

“I trust you, Kara.”

“But I have never done anything like this before. What if I can’t control my powers? What if I hurt you?”

Lena leaned over to nibble at her jaw. “You won’t.” She pressed a kiss on the blonde’s jaw, then brushed her teeth on the soft skin. “I trust you,” repeated her.

So Kara kissed her again, hard, deep and passionate until Lena panted and broke the kiss when the head of Kara’s cock brushed her slit. “Lena,” she breathed as Lena freed her hand from her grasp and ran her thumb over her again.

Lena took the lead as she led Kara’s cock inside. She was so wet that Kara had no trouble slipping in, but it still felt so good, so fulfilling and breathtaking that she almost wished to never move ever again. The deep groan the other woman let out against her neck was all she needed to know she wasn’t alone in the feeling.

They fit so well, so perfectly, like they were carved for each other and Lena shut her eyes as she threw her arms around Kara’s shoulders. One of her hands tangled on blonde curls as her other fingers dug into strong muscles, Kara started kissing her neck again, and their hips moved together.

Lena was sure Kara was going to come very soon by the way her shoulders were tense and hard as a rock, her breathing was fast and hoarse groans came from the back of her throat. The idea sent shivers all over her body, down her spine and straight to her core as she realized she could get there too if the blonde could last five more minutes.

Kara barely lasted two more minutes, moaning loudly and hard against Lena’s ear as she came almost unwillingly, clearly losing a battle against herself. Despite it, Lena smiled to herself and turned her head to the side so she could press a kiss on the side of the blonde’s neck in quiet reassurance to let her know there was no reason to be frustrated over it. Her fingers also untangled from her hair in a gentle caress and Lena just held her close.

“Can we go again?” Kara whispered on the hollow of her neck, not making any indication to pull away.

The innocent question sent a shiver down Lena's body that was so good it made her toes curl. “Now?”

“Yeah,” Kara replied almost immediately.

Lena was never called dumb before in her life, so she instantly overturned their positions without letting the woman slip out. She landed on top of Kara, then leaned in for a kiss as they both moaned to the sensations the new position was causing. Lena allowed Kara to slip her tongue inside her mouth and cradle her face between warm hands before she straightened herself again and started to ride.

Like a fucking cowgirl.

With a fucking smirk, like she was bragging, like she knew how _good_ she was at this.

And judging by the way Kara’s eyes kept shifting from her jumping breasts to their joined hips, she had every right to brag.

Definitely a boops girl, though.

And maybe Kara knew more than she was letting her know because she reached forward and her thumb found Lena’s clit without much trouble, her other hand coming around to grab one perfect round ass as she helped Lena ride. She took notice of how sensitive Lena was though, how she trembled too hard and almost painfully and she knew her touch would barely help Lena to get there at all. So she moved her thumb to the soft area around her clit and that’s when she found a special, sensitive spot and Lena lost it.

She sped up and, in response, Kara groaned loudly as her cock twitched. Lena’s head fell back when her orgasm hit, her mouth open in a silent scream, as Kara’s come flood her.

Kara was still panting when Lena let her out and laid by her side. Her cheeks were red, her hair was tangled, she had come down her thighs and was all sweaty, but she had never felt better before.

Not even the shape of Kara’s hand on her hip, her thumb right over the hipbone, that showed up just a few minutes later was able to break her high. She was too happy. Giddy even. When did she ever felt giddy before?

Golly, indeed.

* * *

“I could fly to his house and punch the living shit out of him,” Kara whispered in the darkroom. She was splashed out in the middle of the bed on her back, eyes closed and even breath as her fingers played with soft dark curls spread over her chest.

Lena realized it was more than a comment throw in the void, it was more of a request for permission. “What are you thinking?”

“That I want to punch the living shit out of Lex. What are _you_ thinking?”

Lena let out a long sigh, deep enough to be considered suffering, and tapped the tip of her fingers against Kara’s shoulder like she was trying to create a rhythm. “I’m thinking I want to be very selfish. That I want to take you and fly away to somewhere Lex can’t come to us and just stay there forever.”

“You don’t have that many books,” Kara teased.

The brunette rolled her eyes at that but decided to ignore the light teasing. “I don’t want you to put yourself in danger. Lex’s plan might be against _you_ , or he might decide he doesn’t need you alive to accomplish his goals. But I don’t think it’s fair of me to stop you either. Your cousin is there somewhere, Lex has threatened your family and now you have your powers back.” She sighed again, sounding tired, scared and determined all in only one sound. “What would you do if I wasn’t here asking you not to go?”

Kara chuckled softly under her. “I’m afraid this question is a little hard for me to answer.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m definitely not the same person I was before I met you.” The blonde shrugged the best she could without disturbing the other woman and tilted her head to press a kiss in the crowd of dark hair. “I may have lived in the shadows but I was pretty reckless.”

“Kara Danvers? Reckless? I could never imagine it,” Lena replied with a smile and a light pinch to Kara’s side.

“What about you?” she asked in return. “What would you have done if Lex hadn’t pushed me to your life like that?”

Lena huffed. “I would probably have kicked him out and – Holy Hell.”

“What?” Kara tried to look down to see what had caused such a reaction on the shorter woman but Lena hadn't moved from her position.

“That’s why he did it!” The CFO apparently forgot there was someone under her because she used her fist to punch Kara’s shoulder quite hard. She was the one who hissed in pain though and the blonde quickly grabbed her hand to soothe the pain with soft kisses. “Kara, he made me buy you so I would be out of his neck! He thought I would get so... distracted by you that I would just let him do the things he wants to do!”

The blonde scoffed rather loudly at that. “That’s absurd,” she declared with certain. “Like you would ever let something go after you set your mind on it.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “To be fair, the Luthors always underestimated me.”

“How very foolish of them.” Kara placed their joined hands on top of her covered chest and closed her eyes again with a satisfied sigh. “I’m not going to invade Lex’s house and punch the living shit out of him. Alex would get mad too, let’s face it.”

Despite the mood going down a little, Lena giggled and pounded of fist gently against Kara’s chest. “Doesn’t the opinion of your wife matters more in this case?”

“So _now_ you want to get married?”

“You keep saying that just to annoy me, don’t you?”

“It works every single time, Lena. You’re just too easy.”

“Well, I should put you on the dog’s house for this but, first, we don’t have a dog-“

“We could get one.”

“-and, second, I have plans for us on Saturday.” She was going to ignore the dog thing because there was no way in hell Kara was going to convince her of that.

Kara hummed. “What is it?”

“Our first date. Or a job obligation, you choose how to call it. See, I can be romantic.”

“Sounds fun.”

“It isn’t.”

* * *

“She kissed me first,” Lena mumbled around her cup of coffee as her friend watched from across the desk in her office. Sam only hummed in response, fighting a smile. “And then we... You know.”

“I think I know, yes. I have a kid.”

“Gross,” Lena crinkled her nose adorably. “But yes!”

Sam nodded. “And how was it?”

“Well,” Lena made a sound from the back of her throat that was both a huff and a groan and it would have been the funniest thing Sam ever heard her friend do. “What she lacked in experience, she certainly made up with enthusiasm.”

“Gross,” Sam taunted with a smirk and Lena rolled her eyes. “And now?”

“Now her sister is definitely going to kill me.”

“Sounds fun.”

“It isn’t.”

* * *

“It’s a little funny, I guess.”

“What?” Lena asked distractedly as she wrote ‘resent’ as a six letters word for ‘take offense at’. Lena had never met her grandparents but crosswords screamed ‘old people’ hobby and she loved every second of it.

“How you ended up asking me to marry you again after denying it so many times before.”

When Lena looked up from the newspapers spread over her legs, Kara was smiling at her behind a mug, eyes brows raised and eyes sparkling in amusement. “You know what?” she asked as she folded the paper and moved to grab her cup of coffee. “Let’s get married.”

“What?” Kara’s smile dropped and her face went white almost immediately, her elbows slipping out of the table from where she was resting them.

Lena nodded slowly as she quirked one eyebrow. “Not so funny anymore, huh?”

* * *

“Can you give me a restraining order?” Lena asked J’onn when she noticed Alex storming her way towards her.

“We’re not the police,” he replied with a shrug.

“Can I call them, so?”

All J’onn did was chuckle and pat her shoulder as he turned to leave, and Lena cursed Winn for calling her to join him in the lab again even though he had no fault in her own mistakes.

“Hey, Lena?”

She never wanted to talk to Mon-El before but she turned around to face him so fast that her knee popped. “Yes?”

He was some kind of hero, right? He wouldn’t let Alex kill her.

She hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: Do you want to keep talking or...?  
> Lena: Yeeeeehaaaaaw


	15. Waltzing mother-in-laws

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of things in this chapter! Some Kara point of view for once (and maybe last time, who knows haha) and guess who we're going to meet?!

Lena’s apartment used to be the quietest place in town. Both back in Oxford and the two days she lived alone in National City.

That was a trait she cherishes about it, to be honest. After spending a whole day hearing people talk, it was good to enter a space that wasn’t only quiet but that was also dark and completely clean of any other presence.

It helped her to calm down, relax and think.

She noticed she would never have another chance to live that after Kara entered her life.

Lena could hear music from the moment she stepped out of the elevator, even though she couldn’t still distinguish the song. However, if she could hear it from the outside, it only meant she would go deaf once she got inside.

The second she opened the door she was assaulted by the highest notes of youth. She could almost hear the tens of thousands of teenage girls screaming from the top of her lungs, crying their eyes out, using merch t-shirts and begging their parents for a ticket. Lena could picture those girls yelling and jumping in her living room while the disapproving parents stood beside them with a frown and a glare. She could so easily see it that she closed the door before the rest of her building got cursed with the same destiny.

However, instead of those tens of thousands of teenagers, she saw Kara.

She had her back turned at her as she was mixing something on the sink and her hips were bucking with the rhythm of... Who were they, really? Lena skipped that part of her pre-teen years. She jumped straight to the emo phase because she knew it would piss Lillian off much more than hear boybands and frame posters of them on her walls. Instead, she bought a fake piercing and paint her walls black, just to start with.

Although Lena wasn’t sure who was singing, she could appreciate the fact that Kara was dancing on her kitchen to that unknown song. If she was going to be honest, she wouldn’t mind having her silence disturbed if that was the vision that would greet her instead.

She thought she was being sneaky by just leaning against the kitchen’s entrance and watch with crossed arms and a soft smile but she forgot all about the woman’s powers because of course Kara would have listened to her by now. Lena took notice of how she bent her knees just slightly before turning around in a perfect spin-jump in beat with the song.

“So what a man gotta do?” she sang while pointing a finger at Lena. “What a man gotta do?” Kara moved her hip to the left. “To be totally locked up by you?” Then to the right. “What a man gotta say?” One step forward. “What a man gotta pray?” Two steps back. “To be your last ‘Goodnight’ and your first ‘Good day’.”

With one eyebrow raised and her mouth hung slightly open, Lena watched as Kara did a 360º spin-jump again before landing perfectly on her feet even though she was using some very fluffy socks. When the singers started over again, Kara laughed happily and walked towards Lena so she could wrap her arms around her waist and turn her around once as she placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

“Should I keep going or you’re going to tell me what I gotta do?” she teased against her skin.

Unable to hold it back anymore, Lena chuckled, throwing her head back and allowing her hands to raise and interlock behind Kara’s neck. “What on Earth are you doing dancing to One Direction in my kitchen?”

Kara laughed again. “It’s the Jonas Brothers, babe.”

The unexpected pet name hung on air between them for a couple of seconds, Kara froze against her, the tip of her nose still brushing on Lena’s cheeks and her hands on her waist, and Lena’s fingers twitched on the back of her neck. The smaller woman realized Kara was holding her breath, almost like she was afraid of Lena might say of the affectionate name.

Finally, Lena shrugged. “I have no idea who they are either, so I guess it makes no difference.”

“But it makes all difference!” Kara exclaimed as she leaned back to look at Lena’s face. There was a sparkle behind those blue orbs that made Lena’s heart flip on her chest.

“Oh really? How so?”

“Well, it’s one thing to try to learn how to dance to One Direction and something completely different if it’s the Jonas Brothers.” Kara shook her head and Lena had no idea how she was managing to keep a straight face for so long. “There’s like, at least, two people of difference.”

Lena huffed a laugh and rolled her eyes as she started to remove her arms, sliding down to Kara’s shoulders and then to her chest. “Why are you trying to learn how to dance? And how are you not deaf by now?”

At that, Kara let go of her to speed-run to the stereo on the corner to turn the volume down to a socially acceptable one. “My bad! I like this song.” She turned around again and copied Lena’s crossed arms in amusement. “And I was learning how to dance because I was invited to a ball on Friday.”

The brunette rolled her eyes again. “It’s a ball organized by my workplace. It’s not going to be even remotely fun.”

“You don’t need to worry about that, I don’t have many things to compare it with.” Kara shrugged with a gentle smile.

“Really? You never went to a ball before? What about graduation?”

“Nobody asked me.”

“Oh.”

Even if her answer sent the mood down, Kara was still smiling and she looked almost joyful when she kept talking. “I told you I have never dated anyone before.”

“But you didn’t, like – You did never had even some kind of interest in anyone?” Lena asked shyly, dragging her feet into the ground.

“I have but it’s never been intense enough for me to act on it,” the blonde scratched her chin like she was lost in thoughts. “Come to think about it, there’s only been one person that I have ever shown any real interest for.”

“And who was that?”

Sporting the softest of the smiles, crinkle around her eyes and a small mark on her left cheek, Kara answered kindly: “You.”

“Kara,” Lena breathed out in reverence.

The blonde nodded slowly. “Odd, huh?” After she gladly watched Lena’s face going delightfully red, Kara decided to change the subject. "Hey, what's this?" Kara asked even though her hands were already inside the bag Lena had dropped in the counter.

Lena rolled her eyes fondly and swept Kara's hand away. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

"Thank Rao I'm not a cat, then." The blonde wiggled her brows and Lena couldn't do much besides rolling her eyes again.

"Fine, you can peak." Kara was already pulling the bag at her before she was even done talking. "They're condoms, Kara, not chocolate."

The way Kara immediately let go of the bag and took a step back was not only hilarious but surprisingly childish-like. "Oh."

"Oh?" Lena repeated while quirking one eyebrow. "Are you blushing?"

"Wha-No!" Kara scoffed and shook her head but it was obvious that she was embarrassed enough that she wasn't even paying attention to the bag anymore.

"Kara," the CEO slowly crossed her arms, "if we can openly have sex, I think we can openly talk about it."

"Yeah! Sure! Totally!"

"You really is something," Lena huffed as she took the items from the bag. "Anyway... we should have discussed this before jumping in bed but the last thing I want right now is to get pregnant. Well, DST would also be a problem but considering you're an alien and all..."

"Okay," Kara's face was so red that she almost looked like a balloon ready to explode. The tables had turned and she wasn’t pleased with it.

"And I don't want to get pregnant. First, so we wouldn't give Lex the satisfaction of being right. I would _hate_ to make him happy in any way." Just to taunt Kara a bit more, she slid the box towards her and crossed her arms. "But also because I simply don't want it. So, from now on, we're using this."

"So... we're doing _that_ again?"

"In a very close future, I certainly hope so." Lena nodded firmly.

"Oh."

"Kara," the CEO licked her lips as slow as she could, "you were inside me not even a day ago, you can't be embarrassed to talk about sex _now_."

"To be fair, we weren't _talking_ at the time."

"And that might be the problem," Lena replied quickly. "We talk about everything else and then just decided to do it, no pun intended. So you use those and I keep taking my pills, and we keep having Earth rocking, mind-blowing sex."

"Oh," Kara nodded even if it didn't seem like she was even breathing.

Lena finally chuckled. "How can you spent an hour proclaiming your undying love for me and not handle two minutes of sex talk?"

The blonde scratched the back of her neck and shrugged, a lazy smile on her lips. "Dunno."

Lena shook her head with a lovingly look as she approached the other woman to press a kiss on her cheek. "You're adorable. Jonas Brothers or not."

* * *

“She makes you nervous,” Sam was talking as gently as she could so she wouldn’t disturb her already distressed friend.

“Of course she does,” Lena replied with a sigh as she rolled her phone in her hand. “Have you ever met someone who completely changed your life?”

“Does it counts if that person came out from me?”

Lena chuckled softly. “Fair.”

Sam took a deep breath and moved to sit beside her friend on the couch at the corner of her office. “You’re scared, no, you’re _terrified_ that she’s going to break you as everyone else did. Lillian, Lex, your father, every girl in college who just wanted to have a go with a Luthor.”

“When did you graduated in ps-“

“I’m not done,” Sam glared at her and Lena immediately snapped her mouth shut. It was the ‘mom-glare’. “If you let her, she can make you truly happy. That’s also scary to you, isn’t? Being happy.”

“Can’t say I agree,” Lena scoffed. “Aren’t we all trying to be happy in life?”

When Sam turned to look at her with two raised eyebrows and a shit-eat grin, she knew she had fallen right into the trap. “So why are you talking to me instead of being happy with the girl?”

* * *

“I’m scared,” Lena whispered against Kara’s neck while a random movie played on the TV. She was sitting sideways, with her legs plopped on the blonde’s thighs, her face hidden on the crook of her neck as her head rested on her shoulder. Kara, on the other hand, was holding her legs up with one strong hand on her knees and her other arm was wrapped around Lena’s waist.

“I knew you were lying. You’re totally scared of watching this,” Kara teased with a chuckle.

Lena rolled her eyes. “I’m not talking about the movie.”

“Oh... What are you talking about then?”

“My boxes.” The brunette sighed and caressed the side of Kara’s face with her nose. “I’m scared as hell to love you. But here I am, loving you anyway.”

Kara’s breath got stuck on the back of her throat and her arms involuntarily squeezed Lena a bit tighter against herself. When she spoke, it sounded like she was on the verge of tears. “Does that mean we can marry now?”

“Eat shit, darling.”

If love was surrender, Lena thought, she had no problem losing the battle.

* * *

Kara wondered how bad it would be if she pretended to have a twisted ankle as she kept watching the tutorial in the Youtube on her cellphone. It should be way easier than it is and, not for the first time, she regrets not taking some classes when she was younger.

Since she promised to herself not to do anything to betray Lena’s trust in any way or form, and also because she's an indestructible alien, Kara rewinded the video to the beginning to listen to every instruction again since apparently her brain didn't understand those in the first 27 times she watched the video. It was ridiculous how she could hold a plane using only one hand, but, when it came to dancing, she was a complete denial.

Not dance in general, Kara tried to light her own mood, just waltz. Which was a real problem because Lena was taking her to a ball for their first date and people dance in balls. And it's romantic, right? She would like to ask Lena for a dance. The only problem being that Kara can't waltz. And if she can't waltz, she can't take Lena to the dance floor because she would just make them look like idiots. She had two days to find out how to do it.

So she was doing her best to learn, and by best it meant not asking for professional help and just binge-watch videos on Youtube that tried to teach you how to waltz. Keyword being tried because Kara still hadn't learned a thing.

It also didn't help that she was in the middle of Lena's living room as she waited for her to get home from work. Those weeks she had been living there, she spent every day trying something new so she would get bored to death, but learning how to dance was a new low for her.

At least Lena has a gigantic space around her living room, right? And for someone who's trying really hard to accomplish some goals in dancing, space was a very important aspect of it and she would benefit from Lena's lack of personal objects and decorations around her house. Literally, all she had to do was push her coffee table to the side and she had a whole saloon to herself.

So she tried. Really hard, because all she wanted was to take Lena to one dance, only one dance, and not make them look like idiots. At least on their first date because it was bound to happen at some point, but she would like to avoid doing so on the first time they hang out as a couple.

"Why does it sound like a bull just walked inside a china shop in here?"

Kara jumped so high in the air that one might think she was trying to reach the sun. When she turned around to face the direction of the voice, she was greeted by a face she had seen millions of times before in the cover of magazines and gossip tabloids.

“How do you keep just walking inside?” she asked in utter shock without thinking about it. “I lock the door after Lena leaves, Rao!”

The woman arched one eyebrow and, even if she knew the woman wasn’t Lena’s real mother, she couldn’t help both notices the resemblance on that single move. “My son told me but I was hoping he was into drugs again. Lena really lost her mind, didn’t she?”

Kara knew her face was flushed when she cleared her throat and smoothed down her sweatpants. “Hi, Mrs. Luthor.”

Lillian Luthor wasn’t amused, to say the very least.

* * *

Lena wasn’t assaulted by music when she stepped out of the elevator at that time. Instead, she came face to face to a furious looking agent Danvers.

“What did your mother wanted? How did she get inside? Did you give her a key? What did she way? Why didn’t you tell us your mother was in town? She’s searched for her crimes with CADMUS, you should have reported her presence here! What is she trying to do?”

The questions were almost yelled straight into her face, so fast and so enraged that Lena had to fight every instinct on her body not to take a step back. Alex looked like a lioness protecting her cub and she wasn’t one for playing, for sure.

Before Lena could even voice her own questions – “Why are you here?” and “How did you know?” – another woman took the lead, placing a small hand on Alex’s shoulder from behind.

“Alex, calm down. Let her answer one question before making another one.”

Lena honestly doubted Alex was going to relax or calm down considering how hard she was shaking but she appreciated the try. She took the extra second to look over both women in front of her to see how big was the damage. She could see some agents walking to and from her apartment door, some of those she had seen on her adventures on the DEO before. J’onn was standing by the door talking with another black man that wasn’t only taller than Alex but was also muscular enough to make anyone shake on their feet. Mon-El was guarding the door like a hound, hands crossed in front of his body, barely blinking and Lena liked him a little better for that.

What mattered to her, though, is that there was no sign of Kara or her mother anywhere. She knew Kara wasn’t missing because she had been the one who called Lena after all, however she couldn’t help but wonder if something else had happened in the period that took from her to run from her office and get there.

“Where’s she?” Lena whispered her question as she tried not to sound in panic.

She wasn’t sure it was working.

“You’re not going anywhere before you answer my questions, Luthor.” Alex snarled into her face. “You told me you had nothing to do with it. I trusted my sister to stay with you! And now-“

“Lena.”

Kara’s voice was soft but it spoke volumes and overpowered Alex’s words. The blonde didn’t look even a little distraught when Lena’s eyes found her standing by the door, in fact, she was smiling but that didn’t stop the CFO to run towards her like she had just survived the worse accident in the story.

She had just survived an encounter with Lillian Luthor, so it was almost the same thing.

Kara caught her easily in her strong arms and Lena breathed a sigh of relief. “Kara.”

“Hey, it’s okay!” Kara soothed her quickly, patting her back. “I know I never met a mother-in-law before but I think you’re all just overreacting.”

Lena pushed herself away and, in shock, Kara took a step back although she could have easily held her ground. Then Lena punched her shoulder as hard as she could and the blonde moved along with the hit so the other woman wouldn’t hurt herself. “How can you make a joke right now?!”

Kara held her hands in front of her face. “I’m just trying to break the tension!”

“That’s Kara for you,” the tall man J’onn was speaking with said by her side and Lena turned to look at him with a slight surprise, having forgotten they weren’t alone. “James, James Olsen.”

“Hi,” she nodded distractedly for a second before turning to look at Kara again. She knew she would have no idea what his name was in two seconds. “What happened? Did she hurt you?”

“No,” Kara shook her head as she pursed her lips together.

“Well, what did she wanted then? What did Lillian _do_?” The million dollars question.

Kara straightened her glasses and shrugged. “She taught me how to waltz.”

The shock in the people around them was so hard that they could hear a cricket at 40 floors beneath them. Lena’s eyelashes closed so slowly that Kara could almost count them.

“Come again?” the brunette hoarse.

Kara nodded. “Yeah.” Lena took a deep breath and her face held no expression. at all like she truly had no idea how to react to that. And she didn’t. “Hey, I think you met all of my friends now!” the blonde declared happily when she noticed everyone else was frozen around her. “That’s James, from CatCo. I told you I’m a freelance writer, right? Well, I wrote some articles for CatCo and I met him and Winn a couple of times. Mon-El started working there just before everything went down. Then there’s J’onn, who’s like a father to me actually.” Lena just stared at her. “And I just met Maggie! Do you know Maggie already?”

Lena flicked her tongue over her lips. “No, I haven’t met Maggie yet.”

“Come, I will introduce you!”

“Kara-“ Lena interrupted herself when the blonde stopped pulling her towards the small woman who had tried to calm Alex down before. When Kara glanced at her over her shoulder, Lena blinked again. “What the hell?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam: Are you seriously here with me when you could be having amazing sex with your sugar alien right now?  
> Lena: *RUNS LIKE SHE'S USAIN BOLT at the sound of What a man gotta do by the Jonas Brothers*


	16. You better respect my house

“What the hell were you doing in my house?” Lena barked as soon as she noticed her mother sitting behind her desk. For someone who was searched for many crimes, Lillian wasn’t slightly afraid of getting caught working on her own office.

“Well, hello to you too, dear,” the overly sweet, overly fake voice almost made Lena turn around and leave but she was on a mission and she wouldn’t back down from that because Kara’s safety was in game. “How long have you been in town? Why didn’t you call? We could have had lunch together.”

Finally looking up from a stack of paper, Lillian gave her a sickening smile.

Lena wasn’t having it.

“What were you going-“

“Yes, I heard the first time, I’m not  _ that  _ old.” Lillian waved one hand around.

Lena crossed her arms. “I truly doubt you were there to help, so why did you go?”

Lillian leaned back on her chair with a smug smirk that made her want to punch it away. “Your brother told me you were engaged. I just wanted to see who was the person who caught your heart. Imagine my surprise when I saw that it wasn’t a  _ person _ .”

“Don’t start this alien shit on me, mother,” Lena growled and her nostrils flared. “What did Lex told you?”

“That you were getting married,” Lillian explained slowly like Lena was too dumb to understand.

Lena allowed a pause of a couple of seconds so she could get her thoughts straight, then she leaned over her mother’s desk, placing her palms against it. “You two better stay away from her. I’m serious.”

“Oh, I see.” Lillian laughed a clear forced laugh and shook her head. “You think I have something to do with Lex’s little plan.”

“The fact that you know what his plan is, proves you’re at least a little involved in this.”

“Look at you, got all grown up and learned how to talk,” Lillian taunted. “Every family has it’s divergences, I think you can understand that. My dear son has allowed his beliefs to get stained. We no longer share the same goals, I’m afraid. If he would just drink the coffee I so dearly send him every day, he would already be dead.”

Lena tried not to get affected by the fact that her mother would so clearly kill her own son just because they were diverging in some subject. Instead, she scoffed. “That’s why you taught Kara how to waltz?”

“She was a lost cause, let me tell you that.” Lillian smiled at her. “You can thank me for saving your night some other day.”

“You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours, right?” Lena mocked.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, dear.” The older woman leaned over with her forearms against the table and threw her such a disdainful smile that almost had Lena shrinking down. “I’m still coming for you.”

“Dead is going to be a kind end for you if you touch Kara,” Lena threatened. “God help you and Lex.”

* * *

“Hey, I’m going to bed,” Kara declared as she popped her head on the office door. Watching Lena locking herself in her office made her feel... intimidated. In all the time she had known the woman, she never saw Lena doing it and it caused a cold twist in her belly.

Lena nodded, not looking up from the thing she was staring at. “Good night.”

Kara looked over her shoulder to make sure there was no one standing behind her, then she took a step inside the room. “Aren’t you coming?”

The CFO sighed heavily and ruefully. “I’m working on something.”

The blonde bit her bottom lip so hard it went white. “Please, Lena,” she begged, “don’t put me inside a box again.”

Lena’s entire frame fell with the strength of Kara’s plead. She dropped her pen and looked up, interlocking her fingers together and resting them in front of her chin, elbows resting on the table. For a scary second, Kara thought she wasn’t going to say anything but then she sighed.

“I will protect you better from now on, I promise.”

“I don’t need your  _ protection _ , Lena.” Kara took another step closer as her arms wrapped around her own waist like she was trying to hug herself. “I need  _ you _ .”

Another beat of silence.

Long, uncomfortable and heavy like the ones they hadn’t in quite some time.

It made Kara cringe.

“Your sister is just by the couch,” Lena whispered. “There’re agents by the door.”

“She’s just being overprotective,” Kara tried.

It didn’t work. “They’re here to watch me and we both know it.”

It was time for Kara to pause. She had no idea how to confront the truth.

“Come to bed, please.”

Lena shook her head. “I’m taking the guest room since your sister declined it.”

“Lena, come to bed.”

“Kara, I can’t jus-“

“Lena,” this time her voice was dripping with unreleased tears and agony. “Come to bed with me.”

The younger woman finally let her joined hands to fall on the desk as she studied Kara’s face. She could see the lines on her expression writhing as she waited for Lena’s verdict.

It was only then that she realized she could also break Kara’s heart.

Never had she realized how breakable they both were.

She decided they were stronger together.

“Okay.”

* * *

“Alex is trying to convince me I’m suffering from Stockholm syndrome.”

“Aren’t you, though?”

Kara glanced at J’onn like he was insane for even insinuating something like that but he didn’t even react. “I – What? J’onn, no!”

“You’re stuck in her house for weeks now.”

“I’m free to go!”

“No, you weren’t,” J’onn glanced at her from the book he had brought to keep his vigil. “Didn’t she convinced you to stay inside numerous times?” Kara clenched her jaws but he wasn’t done yet. “Didn’t she convinced you to keep the tracker in place?”

“She’s not the one holding me captive,” Kara whispered angrily.

“Isn’t she?”

Feeling like her head was about to explode with a gigantic headache, Kara decided to end the conversation.

Her problems seemed to have another idea, though, because as soon as she made a turn to enter the hallway that leads to the bedroom she came face to face with Lena. The woman was leaning against the wall with her shoulder, arms crossed and a deep frown that made her look much older and darker. Any hope Kara might have that she hadn’t heard the conversation were gone when she saw the woman’s eyes flick to some point behind her back and then at her again.

Kara opened her mouth to say something, anything, but then Lena turned around and stormed inside her office, shutting the door behind her. She didn’t slam it but the gesture was clear.

Kara wasn’t welcome to get in.

* * *

H er night was spent much like her father used to live, Lena noticed halfway through the bootle With a stack of papers in front of her and a cup in her hand.

She wasn’t sure if her father did it while feeling like shit, though.

Maybe so. It would certainly explain a lot of his actions.

Lena could remember a time when Lionel Luthor would stay up in his office working and drinking while she read some books sitting on the floor by his feet. She could remember when he started asking her to leave. She remembered when he started yelling at her so she would leave. And she could remember when he started closing the door so she wouldn’t even try to enter.

Around that same time, Lex started throwing the chessboard in the floor when he lost a match, Lillian became more vicious with her words and Lena just existed around the house while praying no one saw her.

That was much like she was feeling at that moment too, she thought. Just wishing no one would notice her so they wouldn’t attack her somehow. Hence the closed office door and the bottle of whiskey. If people couldn’t pretend she wasn’t there, then she would drink until she forgot they were there.

J’onn’s words burned in the back of her mind like hot iron. He could have maybe said it less offensively but, if he believed in what he was saying, she could understand why he said it like that. And maybe he was right.

Lena started to question herself the second the bitter taste of alcohol hit her tongue. She liked to think she was nothing like her family but maybe she was just the same.

The same habits as her father, the same way of speaking as her mother, the same nature of keeping people captive as her brother. Even if, to be fair, she wasn’t aware she was doing that. She hadn’t realized what she was doing.

Or maybe she had and just pretended not to.

God knows the Luthors tend to ignore their own personality traits until it becomes a huge problem.

“Lena.” It wasn’t the first time since Lena locked herself in that Kara was trying to talk to her from the other side of the door but, just like the other times, she just took another sip from her drink. “Whatever you’re thinking, you’re doing it wrong. I told you before, I’m here because I want to be here.”

“What if you’re only here because I didn’t give you a choice to leave?”

Kara wasn’t supposed to hear her personal reflection. However, superpowers working again, she did. “No, that’s not it. I promise you-“

“You know no better,” Lena sighed. “You think I saved you and that’s why you put me in such a high standard but-“

“No buts!”

“-maybe your head is mixing things.” Lena wanted to cry, to roll on a ball and never open her eyes ever again.

The pause coming from the other side of the door was almost deafening. “You have no idea what goes on inside my head,” Kara finally declared, sounding a bit angry. “You think you know me better than I know myself, just like everyone thinks they know you better than I do.”

“You have known me inside a bubble, Kara. We are wrapped inside this tiny world inside my apartment. What happens when we leave?” Lena wondered aloud after a couple of minutes, swirling the amber liquid inside her glass. “What is going to happen after Lex is gone?” Encouraged by the darkness around her and the soft sound of the rain hitting the window behind her, the Luthor asked the question that was roaming her head for days.

“What matters now is tonight,” Kara answered firmly. “Tonight we’re here. We’re together. That all I wish for.”

“What about tomorrow? Will you still wish for it tomorrow?” she asked the same questions she had asked before but she truly needed to know the answer for it.

“As long as I’m with you, babe. Always,” Kara swore. “The bubble might have been suffocating but it wasn’t blinding, you know,” the blonde replied in the same rushed tone. Lena wondered if J’onn was still guarding her apartment and what he was thinking about the conversation they were having on each side of a closed door. She wondered if he had left and someone else had taken his spot and if this person had any idea of what was going on. “I could see clearly. I could  _ see  _ everything.”

Lena didn’t realize she was crying until a tear fell against her table. “Kara.”

“Are you crying? Please, don’t cry. I can’t hear you crying.”

She could picture it quite perfectly: Kara leaning against her door, palms pressed against the wood, her pleas escaping soft, full lips. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you from my mother, from my brother, God, from my entire family! I love you so much. How can I love you so much?”

“That’s easy. I’m the girl you always imagined, the prettiest girl you ever saw. The ideal wife and all of that.”

Despite herself, Lena breathed a watery and hoarse chuckle. “I must be a freaking nightmare to love.”

“You aren’t,” Kara replied quickly but as gentle as she could.

“I am,” Lena breathed out while shaking her head. “But I do love you and I want to give you everything that my love can give you.”

“Lena, I don’t care about money or-“

“Marriage, Kara. If after all of this you still want to marry me, I will figure out a way for us to do it.”

There was another long pause and Lena wondered, not for the first time, if that was when Kara was going to leave. When Lena wasn’t able to put a marriage proposal in actual words that made sense. Instead, her voice became a whisper: “Can I come in? I need to look at you if we’re going to have this conversation.”

Lena wasn’t entirely apt to voicing any answer for quite some time. All she did was breathe in and out slowly, hit the side of her cup with her thumb and stare at the darkness around her. Finally, she asked: “Is that a yes?”

* * *

“After Alex and I started getting along, we would go this big field and watch the stars for hours,” Kara confessed quietly, eyes glued into the skin above them. “She would make me name them and tell her everything I knew. We saw a shooting star once and I was obsessed with it for so long.”

Lena smiled at the picture painted on her brain. “Sounds really nice.”

“It was, yes.” The blonde sighed. “Did you and Lex ever...?”

“Just chess,” she replied without the need to hear the rest of the question, especially since she could see the ends of Mon-El’s cape just by the edge of the building next to hers. He thought he was being smooth and Kara didn’t have the heart to tell him they could both see him. “Other than that I guess I was just a part of his experiments.”

“Did he ever hurt you?”

Lena tilted her head to the side to watch Kara instead of the constellations they had been tracing with their fingers a few minutes before. “Not physically.” Before the woman could press the subject, she kept talking. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Kara smiled brightly and reached out for her hand without moving her head. “So I am.”

“How can you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Make me feel like I was a choice in your life. Like I wasn’t pushed into you.”

This time the smile was directed at her. “If I tell you my secret, I will lose my advantage here, won’t I?”

Lena didn’t answer her, she wasn’t sure what she could say to that, and her eyes slowly found the stars again. Sitting there on her balcony beside Kara was probably one of the best experiences she ever had. It was calming and it warmed her heart.

That’s until she heard a male voice not very far from them. “That was cute.”

“Get lost, Mon-El.”

Lena chuckled.

Because she had never heard Kara sounding so annoyed. Because she had never heard her asking someone to get lost. Because she knew Kara didn’t actually mean it. Because she knew Mon-El had orders to stay with them and keep an eye out in case her mother decided to pull some shitty move but that he probably didn’t mind being there and Kara didn’t mind having him there either.

Because he was her friend.

Stupid capes or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: My friends like you!  
> Alex: *storms out*  
> J'onn: *shovel talk*  
> Mon-El: *exists*  
> Lena: Don't ever lie to my face again


	17. Tanned hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we're getting into the action, guys! What do you think?!

Balls were boring just as Lena remembered them to be.

She allocated Kara by the buffet and started making her way around the room, greeting the same middle-aged white male who attended the meeting Lex hosted to sell Kara. Maybe she thought about punching some of them in the face while she smiled and complimented their wives. They were also all married, she noticed.

How beautiful.

At some point, she started drinking some very good champagne, which was the high of her night. She couldn’t stand Lex for quite some years now but it was getting ridiculous.

“Lena,” he chanted as he pulled her in for a hug. The woman allowed the touch considering the number of people around them but it didn’t go unnoticed by her that it was the first hug they shared in fifteen years. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Of course, brother.” Lena smiled when they parted and tried not to look so relieved while doing so. “Such a great party, couldn’t miss it.”

“And your companion?”

Lena’s eyes easily spotted Kara across the room, stuffing her mouth with appetizers and ignoring the world around her, and she couldn’t help the soft smile that turned her lips up. She had borrowed a dress from Lena, a light pink embellished dress that made her look younger and innocent, her hair was down in beautifully done waves and her black glasses framed her face perfectly.

Things were still a little weird between them but she made sure to tell Kara how beautiful she looked in that dress.

Lex followed her gaze and he made an “Aha!” from the back of his throat like he was truly delighted to see the blonde. “Did you tell everyone the news?”

“I’m not getting married!” Lena said in defense without missing a beat.

Her brother turned around with one quirked eyebrow and a fun smirk. “I was talking about your new office, but sure.”

“Yeah, right, that.”

Lena was able to point out the exact moment Lex noticed that she wasn’t a paw on his little game anymore. When his eyes flew back at Kara, to make some comment or a joke that would make her sick, he noticed her bare wrist. His eyes widened for a second, going so large in surprise that it would be funny if Lena didn’t hate him so much.

When he looked back at her, it was like he had just seen a ghost.

They had discussed it. If Kara should show up using Lex’s bracelet and the Kryptonite ring or not, and, in the end, they both decided not to do it. Lena’s only reasoning was that she didn’t want Kara to suffer any type of pain and that she didn’t want her to be in discomfort all night. Kara had two arguments: it was ugly and it would send off a message.

But, most importantly, she wanted everyone to know she thought that was the ugliest bracelet in the world and the ugliest ring in the world and that she hated it.

So when Lex looked at her with that face, Lena couldn’t hold back a smile anymore because he looked like a complete idiot standing there in front of her with his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

“If you all excuse me, I believe someone is waiting to take me on a dance.” She warded away still smiling widely.

* * *

“Did my mother actually taught you how to dance?” Lena asked with a deep frown as she lowered her chin against the back of her hand that was on top of the woman’s shoulder.

“We also braided each other’s hairs,” the blonde teased as she turned them around at the beat of the music.

“Oh, sounds nice. I wish I had been there to take some pictures.”

Kara giggled. “Maybe next time.” She swirls them around slowly. “To be fair, all she said was that I should stop looking down at my feet.”

“Is that so?”

“Uh-hm,” Kara hummed and smiled widely at the man watching them from a distance. “Then she told me she was going to send me back from where I came, to which I said she shouldn’t talk about her own daughter like that.”

Lena gasped loudly at that, leaning her head back to look at the blonde with barely hidden amusement. “Kara!”

“What?!” The blonde laughed as she tried her best to look innocent. “What did I say?”

The smaller woman rolled her eyes as she returned to their previous positions. “You’re impossible when you want to be.”

They danced in silence for a couple of seconds before Kara leaned down to press a kiss on Lena’s forehead. "I want you to know that it doesn't matter what happens, I will love you for a thousand more lives."

"That's a little dark and mysterious."

Kara chuckled. "If Lex and I came face to face... if he tries to kill me, should I stop him?"

"What?" Lena moved away so she could look at Kara's face with a deep frown. "What are you talking about?"

"He's your brother, he’s also a lot of other things, but he’s your brother and I don’t want to... you know."

It slowly draws to Lena what she's talking about. "You don't know Lex as I do," Lena replied as quietly as she could, knowing Kara would hear it anyway. "After he sets his mind on something, he's impossible to deter."

Kara tilted her head so they would be at the same eye-level. "I'm very capable of deterring things." Then, just as her words are sinking in Lena's head, she added: "Including him."

"I thought we had this conversation before," Lena moved so both of her hands were resting against Kara's shoulders and sighed.

She had feared that since the beginning. A moment where Kara would start to dismiss the very real threat that was Lex Luthor. He was literally the kind of person that took advantage of the people who doubt how dangerous he truly was.

"Hey," Kara whispered, her lips brushing against Lena's cheek in an attempt to bring her out of her thoughts and back o her. "Are you afraid?"

"Aren't you?" the brunette scoffed and rolled her eyes but she could feel her heart trying to make it's way up her throat and out of her mouth.

Kara sighed and leaned back again. "What are you afraid of?"

"That he’s going to hurt you, Kara! Goddamn it! I know Lex and I know how dangerous he is! You can't just go and try to kill him!"

She had never realized before how hard it was to have a fight when you were supposed to be whispering. Learning new things every day, she guessed.

Comically, though, Kara's eyes went wide and her mouth hung open for a couple of seconds. "You-You thought I was-Oh, no! I was talking about arresting him or something! I'm not going to _kill_ him, I just want to _stop_ him."

Lena clenched her jaws when she felt her heart going to the different direction suddenly, dropping to her stomach like a rock. "And what if it doesn't work? What if you can't stop him?"

Kara must have taken her angry tone as something negative towards her because she looked like a chastised child next. "I... let him go?"

"Are you crazy?" Lena hissed. "Of course you don't let him go! You defend yourself! Jesus, Kara!"

The blonde nodded slowly. "I just... He's your brother, Lena, despite everything he did."

Lena had no doubt then that Kara truly thought that Lena would pick her brother over her. She thought that, if it ever came to this, Lena would choose Lex's life over hers. And she had even less doubt that Kara wouldn't raise a finger against Lex if Lena asked her not to. If Lena asked her to let Lex go, to let him pull out his dark plan, to let him do his thing, Kara wouldn't fight it.

The smaller woman bit her bottom lip to distract herself from the tears that wanted to slide down her face. "You better fight, Kara Zor-El," she said miserably. "If you let Lex kill you, I will be so mad.".

Kara chuckled sadly as she pulled Lena back into her arms for a tight hug. "You would never let me die, you're too smart. So am I, so I guess no one is dying."

"Let me deal with Lex, please," Lena mumbled as she got hold of a fistful of Kara's dress. "I know him, I know how his head works. Let me do it."

"I hope you didn't buy thinking I would be your _housewife_ ," Kara teased lightly. "I won't sit on my ass while you do all the work."

"I wouldn't mind," Lena replied almost angrily and Kara chuckled again.

"You will figure this out, I know you will."

Lena should have known that Kara wouldn't be having that conversation with her if she didn't mean something with that. She should have known that Kara _didn't_ sit on her ass all day while Lena tried to battle Lex on her own. She should.

But she only realized it when she saw Winn walking towards her five minutes after Kara excused herself to go to the bathroom.

"She asked you not to be so mad," he offered the explanation and a smile. "And that you should try the chocolate tarts."

She wasn't mad.

She was terrified.

* * *

"She's going to try to rescue Clark."

"She said she was going after Lex."

Alex shook her head. "Our plan is to-"

"Your plan?!" Lena shouted in the empty office room they had reunited on. The party was still happening outside, she could hear people talking and music playing, and she cared for none of this. "You knew about this?"

"What? You think I made a habit out of invading fancy balls?" Alex arched one eyebrow at her. "Yes, I knew about it. We came with this plan two days ago after your dear mother showed up."

"Two days?! Oh, perfect! You have planned for two days, so it's definitely going to work!" Frustrated, Lena ran a hand through her hair. "What were you thinking?"

"That Lex is here tonight," Alex snapped. "So he won't be whenever he's keeping Clark."

"Wow, you must really put Lex on a high standard if you think he would be able to do all of this alone. You can't possibly think he doesn't have goons lying around!"

"We can stay here and discuss this all night, but I also need to go check on my sister, so if you don't mind..."

“Fuck you, Alex,” Lena mumbled to herself as she watched the woman walk away with Winn following her closely. She had no idea how they got inside the party but she was going to fire whoever let them. But, first, she had to find Kara and stop her from being stupid.

And possibly from dying.

* * *

Maybe going through Lex’s files for a tip, any tip, that could help her find where Kara went was a bad idea. Just maybe because she did found some funny things around Lex’s desk, like action figures and a comic book. But she shouldn’t have done it because being nosy never turned out good for her.

“Mom and I disagree in many things,” she heard from behind her and her spine froze in surprise and fear. “Funny enough, the only thing we could agree on, is you. She wasn’t happy to go in and out of your house without killing anyone while there but she managed to put a tracker in your coat without raising a finger to cause harm. At least directly. A true hero, if you ask me.”

As he talked, Lex approached her and placed his hand right in between her shoulders. He slowly guided her until she had her back to a chair and then pushed her down, surprisingly gently, until she was sitting.

“You thought I wouldn’t have noticed it?” Lex taunted as he set at the corner of his desk. The ball was still happening outside those walls, she could hear it as clear as day, and she wished nothing more than scream until someone heard her. She had to get out. She had to get the fuck out of that stupid office Lex had dragged her to and she had to find Kara.

She promised she would protect her better and there she was, only a day later, already fucking things up.

Lena really was a piece of shit if she couldn’t even do what she promised she would do.

“You thought you could go around messing with my devices and I wouldn’t have realized what you were doing?”

Lena, as calm as she could get, shrugged.“To be completely honest here, yes, I thought you wouldn’t have noticed it. I wouldn’t have tried to do it if I thought the contrary, would I?”

He glared at her for a second before he scoffed. “Pathetic.”

She pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side, clearly offended by the word. “Yeah, I don’t agree with that particular way of seeing things.”

“And how do you want to _see_ things?”

“As a victory. I fucked up your whole plan, you can’t pretend I didn’t.”

“Yes, you ruined it by falling in love with an aberration. Who truly won here?” Lex finished cleaning up the bullet he had been polishing for the past ten minutes, brought it to his mouth and blew at it like he was trying to take dust from it. Then, he put the bullet back into the gun’s cylinder and, just like he was a cowboy from 1800, snapped the cylinder back with a wave of his hand.

Instead of shitting her pants like her body was telling her to do, Lena twisted her lips. “I did, I think.” She shrugged when he turned to stare at her again. “I mean, I believe I did.”

“Who, from the two of us, is tied to a chair right now?” He asked with his signature sickening smile as he slid from the table he had sat on top of. When he was halfway in front of her, Lex raised his hand, gun aimed right to her face and smiled even more.

Lena held the lump that was threatening to go up in her throat. “It doesn’t matter how mad you’re at me for ruining your plans, you’re not going to shoot me when there are at least a hundred people just outside this room.”

Lex’s hand trembled for a scary second before he lowered it. “You’re right. Poison was always my go-to, anyway.” He took a step to the side, eyes never leaving her face, and handed the revolver to the man-with-a-weird-mustache. Lena was sure it was the same man who hit Kara and, as soon as she managed to break free, he was a dead man for daring to touch her. “Marcus, though, would be perfectly fine doing it. Right, Marcus?”

“As fine as peach,” ‘Marcus’ answered and, if Lena wasn’t truly scared at that moment, she could have laughed off his ridiculously anti-climatic reply.

“Good.” Lex didn’t seem to mind as he turned to leave. “I will enjoy the rest of the party and then I’m going to visit our dear friend.”

Lena watched him go with eager, angry eyes. The office door was made of glass entirely and it was so large that she wondered if a truck could drive by it, so she could see his back as he walked back to the party and away from his own sister like she was just another mishap. Now that she was about to have her brains exploded into the white walls around her, she wondered if the cleaning team would be too sad.

Lex was a true fucking sick bastard.

Marcus, the ugly dude with the mustache, chuckled softly as he approached her a bit more and looked deep into her eyes, his finger twitching at the trigger like he was taunting her and then he smirked at Lena like she was prey.

Lena wondered if she would even be able to _hear_ the shot or if it would happen so fast that her mind wouldn't even be able to register it. Maybe the cleaning team wouldn’t have to do it, maybe it was a job for the police to handle. She wouldn’t know, she never had to clean someone’s brain from anywhere before. Maybe Lex would be willing to take the job of cleaning, just to feed his sickness.

Listening to the shot or not, Lena was sure she was going to see it because she staring directedly at his hand and the revolver on it. She wanted to see when it was going to happen because she truly thought she deserved at least that. Lex was already having the satisfaction of killing her, she wanted to at least watch it going down.

And her mother, Jesus, she knew Lillian was up to something, but _invade_ her house and-

And then 'BANG'.

Marcus's eyes seemed confused for a second before his whole body went limp and he fell, face first, into the ground. It sounded like a sack of potatoes and it looked like a tree, so Lena was confused at first. Then her eyes raised from the fallen dude and she saw it. Behind him stood Sam, a vicious look on her eyes and the food tray still on her hands, definitely dented now.

“You and Lex really need to keep your family problems just between family,” Sam finally declared, quite breathless, as her eyes slowly raised to meet Lena’s. “And don’t clutch your pearls just yet, Jesus.”

Lena forced her mouth shut and nodded.

* * *

“I lost time with my daughter to help you,” Sam kept rambling as she followed Lena through the stairs. “Hours investigating Lex and all his madness. Did you know he spent five thousand dollars to buy a tanning bed?”

Lena almost missed the next step when she gasped. “He did what?”

“Yeah!” Sam pushed her friend to keep moving and huffed. “Anyway, I did what you asked and kept a close look on him, and his transactions and his lab. And guess what?”

“What?” Lena asked as she pushed the heavy door open so they could keep going.

“Your brother is sick. There’s something wrong with his head, Lena, I’m telling you.” Sam shook her head like she couldn’t even believe it herself and then sighed. “You were right, he was trying to replicate Kryptonian’s DNA.”

The smallest woman paused for a second to allow the information to draw. “How-How did you find out?”

“You would be surprised by the number of information you can get when you offer some goodies to tired technicians,” her friend replied with a shrug. “That and they had no idea who I was so they were more willing to talk.”

Lena decided she needed to keep walking if she wanted to get to Kara in time so she shook her head and put one foot in front of the other. Move, she told herself, keep going. “He kept Superman so he would have the perfect guinea pig. But he couldn’t manipulate the DNA the way he wanted to. When that didn’t work and when he found out about Kara...”

Sam nodded. “From what I heard, Kryptonian’s DNA is the most complex thing in this Universe, he couldn’t do what he wanted to do, so he decided to use her instead.”

When Lena pushed the door to the heliport open, she looked back at her friend with a smile. “Thank you, Sam. You were a great help this past month, I deeply appreciate what you did.”

Her friend sighed and placed a hand on her arm. “Take care, Lena. Please. I found out things about Lex that made me sick in my stomach, so please, just think about what you’re going to do before you do it.”

Lena tried to smile again but she knew that now it was nothing more than a grimace. “I will. Now go home and take care of your kid, okay?”

“Lena?” Sam pulled her back when she tried to leave and the Luthor arched one eyebrow in question. “You’re not the one with the superpowers or the big guns here. Keep that in mind.”

Lena wanted to be a smartass and say she was the one with a brain but, to be completely and utterly honest, they all had the brain. The difference is that Lex had his guns to add to the equation and Kara had her powers. For a second, a brief second, she wondered if she should really call Alex and let her deal with all of that while she prayed and hoped at home. Alex also had the big guns, she would, at least, be on the same ground as her brother.

At the same time, she could never allow Kara to run towards the danger and pretend she had nothing to do with it. Her family was, in the end, the main reason why Kara was in danger in the first place. And she loved the woman more than anything else in this fucked up world. She would do anything, literally anything, to keep her safe.

Including piloting a helicopter even if she had never done something like that before.

If she didn’t die on the way, she would definitely do anything to keep Kara safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lena: I had a lot of evolution in the past few weeks... I got a girlfriend, I started talking about my feelings more, I fell in love, I didn't get killed. I consider it all a victory. What did you do, Lex?  
> Lex: I bought a tanning bed.   
> Lena: You did what?


	18. I need to go back

“Hey,” Kara sighed deeply as she plopped herself into the ground.

“Kara! Kara, what are you doing here?” Kal tried to run towards her but the chain around his ankle held him back and he hissed when he was pulled against the wall.

Sometimes life is easy and cute and fluffy and filled with good stuff. And then, sometimes, you had to fly in the wilds of remote a mountain in only God knows where when your girlfriend is waiting for you to come back from the bathroom and take her to another dance.

Kara re-arranged the words inside her head though and said: “Do you think she will be too mad?”

“Who?” Kal asked with a deep frown as his eyes watched his cousin in concern.

“Lena,” Kara sighed. “She told me to stay by the buffet and now I’m horribly lost and kidnapped again.” Kal only stared at her for a while longer. “I’m afraid she’s going to be super mad at me because I made her fail the whole protection situation she had going on.”

“Kara, what are you talking about?”

“She hates when she fails,” another sigh, deeper and sadder. “I think it’s her mother’s fault, you know. Raised her to some impossible standards, made her think she could never fail and that, if she did fail, she was worthy of nothing.”

“... Are you _high_?” Kal’s voice at the end was filled with disbelief and it was almost funny.

Almost.

“No. I promised Lena I would take her to dance and now I’m here. _Here_ isn’t _there_.” Kara hugged her legs against her chest and closed her eyes. “I need to go back to my wife.”

Kal had no idea if his cousin was indeed high on something or not, so he decided to nod like he understood. “Yeah, me too.”

The blonde’s eyes went as wide as plates when they snapped at him. “Holy shit! Your wife must be so mad! You’re terribly late for dinner!”

Okay, so he wasn’t throwing away the ‘high as a kite’ option.

“Hey, Kal.”

“Yes, Kara?”

“I missed you.”

He chuckled, even if he didn’t found that amusing at all. “I missed you too.”

“Promise me something?”

“What?”

Kara leaned her head back so she could look at the dirty, moldy ceiling above her. “Don’t let Lex kill me. He would be happy about it and Lena would _hate_ to make him happy in any way.” Once again, Kal pretended he understood. “I have to go back to her.”

Kal was so shocked that he didn’t even ask how she ended up there like he was planning to do. Instead, he blinked a couple of times. “Why?”

All Kara did was nod. “I have to go back. Lena will be pissed when she can’t find me and I’m afraid she will yell at Winn.”

* * *

“Hey, dude, excuse me.” Kara leaned over on the metal bars of her cage and motioned for Lex’s goon to approach her. The man only snarled at her. “I need your help. I need to get back to my wi-to my Lena. I need to get back to my Lena. Can you open this thing for me?”

He looked at her with an expression that could only mean: _I’m a goon and I do not care._

She respected that but it made her sigh all the same. _I’m going to punch twice as hard_ , she thought.

* * *

“Do you think she’s looking for me?” Kara whispered around a mouthful of bread. “She shouldn’t because Alex knows where I am.”

“Alex knows where we are?” Kal asked as his eyebrows raised in surprise.

His cousin nodded. “We have known for a few days now. I followed Marcus. Do you remember Marcus? The mustache?” When he nodded, she copied his move. “Anyway, I followed him around when Lena was at work. Do you think she’s going to be mad at me for that too? I brought her flowers every time.”

“You bought her flowers?”

“No, I _brought_ her flowers. She bought _me_.”

Kal was in no mental state to follow the mess that was Kara’s rambling so he frowned and dropped his shoulders like he was holding five trains on them. “She did _what_?”

“It’s a very long story,” Kara sighed. For a moment it seemed like she was done talking but then she looked around and smiled. “But I guess we really have nothing else to do, huh?”

* * *

“If your mom kills me, I’m going to haunt you, Lena,” Kara breathed out as she watched Lillian Luthor walking around the place like she owned every inch there. “I’m going to come back and I’m going to haunt you until the day you die.”

Kal was watching her with eager confused eyes. “You do realize you walked inside this cell by yourself, right? You’re not even chained to anything.”

Kara slowly turned her head to look at him. “Don’t kill my mojo, Kal.”

* * *

“Did you find out why we’re here?”

Kara nodded, the distraction almost causing her to lose the next move on her game. “He’s trying to creat evil yous.”

“What?” Kal breathed in shock.

“He wants to create an army of yous, but evil yous, and then he’s going to use you, the evil you, to dominate the world. Or something like that, Alex is better explaining this.” The blonde turned her phone and, at the same time, tilted her head to the same side, which made Kal consider what exactly she was trying to do.

“But...” he sighed and shook his head. “I’m here for months now.”

“Sorry about that, by the way. I came back as soon as I could.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “Lex wasn’t able to do much yet, that’s why you’re still here.”

“May I ask you why we’re still here though?”

“Kryptonite bars,” Kara answered as she used her knuckle to hit one of the said bars.

Kal quirked one eyebrow. “Yes, I’m aware. I have been inside this cell for months now. I don’t understand why _you_ are here as well.”

“To save you,” she shrugged. “I have a plan, don’t worry.”

“Kara...” In the end, he just sighed. “How did no one realized you’re not chained yet? Rao, they’re all so stupid.”

“In case you ever wonder how they couldn’t clone our DNA, just remember that,” Kara chuckled as she put her phone back into the pocket of her DEO sweatpants. “I would have been able to do it in like, two hours.”

* * *

“It’s cold.”

“That’s your fucking problem,” the weird-looking dude, with too large shoulders and a scar going from ear to ear, shot her a look.

“I need to get home,” she informed him with a nod. “Lena will be mad if I don’t.”

“That’s your fucking problem too,” he snarled, huffed and walked away.

Kal looked at her like he was just seeing the sun for the first time. “You’re keeping them away by _talking_? Unbelievable.”

“Lex didn’t hire the smartest of people.”

Kal nodded but sighed like he was too tired to argue. Which he probably was, she couldn’t blame him. It had been _months_. “Don’t you need my help in your little plan?”

“No, not really.”

He threw her a side glance. “Do you want my bread?”

“No for that too.”

* * *

“Oh,” Kara declared suddenly, head raising from where it was resting against the bars. “I think it’s time for me to go.”

“What?!” Kal watched with wide eyes as his cousin got up, patting the dirt from her ass and thighs and moved to open the door.

“Be right back.”

“Kara, you can’t just - Kara! Kara! Holy Rao!”

* * *

Kal was not expecting the next person he saw to be the one and only Lena Luthor.

He had seen her a couple of times before, way back when he and Lex were still friends, but he could immediately tell who she was by the way her presence filled the room.

That, and the fact that she all but shouted at him: “Where’s Kara?!”

“She said she had to go,” Kal gulped.

Lena gasped. Either because she was surprised or because she was annoyed, he couldn’t quite tell. The woman moved to the big panel at the corner of the room and started pressing buttons and pushing levers. There was a crinkle between her brows and he could see, even from the distance, how tense her shoulders were and how hard she was pressing the buttons like she was in a hurry but also so angry that she had to take the extra second to push it a bit harder.

“I found out what his plan is,” she declared in a whisper, looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was coming for her already. Landing a helicopter wasn’t the quiet of the moments or the most discreet entrance, she had to admit. “He tried to find Black Kryptonite, but he couldn’t. He sponsorship expeditions all around the world to find it. However, it doesn’t matter how deep he dug or how far he went, he couldn’t find any.”

Lena made a pause to look at him over her shoulder. “Which was particularly stupid of him because all he had to do was to heat Green Kryptonite and he would have some.”

“I never told him that,” Kal confessed. “That would pretty dumb of me to tell anyone how to create something that could cause so many troubles.”

Lena gave him an impressed look and a nod. “Anyway,” she turned back to the panel, “I think he was also looking for Red Kryptonite but that’s not the point.”

“If you’re trying to open the door, it’s already open,” he interrupted as gently as he could while being a little skeptical at the same time. She was the sister of the man who locked him in, after all.

“Oh,” Lena whispered, hands stopping immediately when she looked at him again. “So why are you still there?”

Instead of answering, Kal raised his foot to show her the chain around his ankle and looked at her like he was saying ‘ _bitch_ , _hello’_. Lena sighed as she moved away from the panel and close to him, almost running to get there as fast as she could. She might not have the big guns, but she could have Superman if she just managed to free him from the chains.

Kal watched as the brunette kneeled in front of him to start trying to figure a way to remove the thing and then he tilted his head to the side. “Why did he needed me and Kara?”

Lena glanced up for a brief second. “When he couldn’t find the kryptonite, he had to try something else. DNA. He wanted to create clones of you, he must have taken your blood a couple of times.”

Since the information she was giving him was almost entirely like Kara’s, he decided to ask some more. “He did, but why Kara? He didn’t do anything to her.”

“He had two reasons to use her,” Lena declared as she moved closer to the wall, trying to pull the chain out of it. “He was trying to hold me back so I wouldn’t try to stop him and he needed a back-up plan to his back-up plan.”

“A back-up for what?”

“His plan B was also not working. He couldn’t crack down your DNA. Kryptonians’ DNA is not only complex, but it's also a total mess. No offense. Your genetic code is like... it’s a complete and total mess.” Lena tried one less pull against the chain before signing. No success in that, she needed to think about something else. “You can’t dilute DNA on water, you have to mix it with another genetic code. If he wanted to use your DNA to make clones, he would need to mix it with something easier to study or he could spend the next twenty years trying to find out how. Human DNA would be perfect.”

“Human DNA?”

Despite everything, she smiled at him. “Thank you for indulging me in this conversation. But yes, human DNA. If he had a mixed code, he could do it. You can’t add DNA into a bowl and mix it, though. Hence Kara. He had to keep you here so she would play along with his plan, he thought she would be more compelled to cooperate if he held something against her. Which was partially true, I suppose. With a hybrid child-“

“He would get what he needed.”

“Very smart man, Mr. Superman,” Lena joked.

Kal frowned. “Why not me, though?”

“You’re a very nice looking man, don’t take me wrong, but I prefer your cousin. Or any woman, really,” Lena replied with a scoff.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I guess Lex has a lot of flaws but respecting that little part of me is not one of them. Besides, you’re married, that would be rude. Speaking of marriage, he sold her because he wanted money to finance his little project.”

“And your mother? I saw her around a couple of times in the last couple of days.”

“She’s a bitch, don’t trust her,” as fast as lightning, she replied, pointing a finger at him. “She probably wants you dead. Kara too. Hell, me too.”

“Your family is-“

“I don’t need to hear it,” Lena sighed.

There was a beat of silence where Lena watched the chains and Kal watched her until he spoke again: “Kara said you two were getting married.”

Lena rolled her eyes, although fondly. “Lex was going to use our marriage as an excuse. He was using that as an alibi while his goons killed the president.”

“What does the president has to do with all of this?”

“Nothing besides being the president, to be fair. Lex wanted to establish chaos so it would be easier for him to rise to power later. He wanted to do it on the 4th of July to cause more of an impact. Very patriotic of him, really. Then he would appear like a saving grace and save the day, all while being supported by a legion of evil versions of you.”

“Well,” Kal said after moments of shock. “Rao-Tov, for the wedding.”

Lena watched him for several seconds. “Was that a joke? I hope it was a joke but, at the same time, it was so bad.”

“Lena?”

She sighed deeply at the sound of her name and several footsteps getting closer to her. “Hey.”

Alex stopped just outside the cell, arm raised and a gun pointed at the woman, and arched one eyebrow. “How the hell did you get in here?”

Lena hesitated for a second before glancing at the man in front of her. “Would you believe if I say I flew here?”

“You weren’t supposed to be here,” Alex declared, putting her gun back on the holster. “Kara’s going to be so mad when she sees you.”

“Where’s Kara?” Lena stopped, looked down at where her hands were clenching around the chains and then quickly dropped it. “I was trying to release him, just so you know.”

Alex nodded slowly. “She’s after Lex; we need to take you out of here.”

“I won’t leave without Kara,” Lena shook her head. “She has no idea how far Lex would go to get what he wants.”

Lena did nothing as agents started pilling up in the cell around them, Alex leading the way with a small black box in her hand that the younger woman quickly recognized. To be fair, she was shocked that none of the agents immediately started to cuff her but she decided not to pay any attention to it while she watched Alex putting a silver bracelet around Kal’s wrist. A second later, he pulled his foot and the chain broke like a dead branch.

Then, Alex looked at her. “Velazquez will take you out.”

“Am I arrested?”

“No,” the redhead shook her head with a slight frown.

“So I’m not going anywhere,” Lena got up from the place she had been kneeling for the past few minutes. She patted her knees, regretting her choice of clothes because the black dress was not only tight but also shot. She was cold and now she had scratched her knees, and, on top of all of that, she still had to battle her brother. “I’m going to find Kara, then I’m going to yell at her for being so reckless and then I’m going to send Lex straight to the sun.” She made a pause to look at Alex right in the eye. “What are _you_ going to do?”

“I’m afraid no one is going anywhere.” They all turned to the sound of another voice joining them and Lena had to battle the need to roll her eyes when she saw her mother standing behind a wall of a tall, rugged man holding big guns. “Why are you so hard to kill, sweet daughter?”

“I learned from the best,” Lena replied with a sarcastic smile before she tugged Superman’s arm. “We need to find Kara before she finds Lex, come on.”

“Here, take this.” Maggie gave her a small pistol that she pulled from her holster even though Alex was glaring at her with enough intention to set her on fire.

The second Lena took the first step, the gunfire started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: Guess who's back, back again  
> Kal: ... I don't deserve this  
> Lena: The second I found you, Kara Danvers, I'm going to kill you so hard!


	19. Fighting for our freaking lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to add another warning to this work since this chapter will be displaying a lot of violence. Please, be aware!

Kara tapped the glass using her knuckles and waved when Lex turned to look over his shoulder. He wasn’t surprised to see her, to which she assumed he knew she would end up there at some point, but he also didn’t seem to happy. She was glad. A large man was standing beside him holding a machine gun and chewing a gun while his black dark eyes followed her every move but she paid him no attention.

“Would it be asking too much to politely tell you to surrender?” Hands stuffed inside her pockets, the blonde walked inside the lab he had built to himself in the mountain he decided to use as a den.

He breathed a chuckle and turned back to whatever he was working on his microscope. “You have no right to ask anything from me since you couldn’t even stick to our agreement. I told you I would let you go if you gave me what I wanted.”

“We can’t always get what we want, you know,” Kara shrugged. “Besides, your sister didn’t want to marry me, you know.”

“Lena always finds a way to fuck with my life,” Lex sighed. “The day father walked inside our house with her hiding behind his legs was the day my life started going downhills.” He looked at her again. “I set her teddy bear on fire but I should have set her, to be honest.”

“That’s rude,” Kara frowned and crossed her arms. “She was just a kid.”

“Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

“For giving me time to finish this,” Lex pushed the microscope away while collecting something with his fingers before smiling at her like the maniac he was. “I might not have been able to create my precious clones, thanks to you and Lena's inability to follow instructions, but I got something else.”

Before Kara could ask or start running her thoughts, Lex raised a needle until it was in the side of his face and waved it at her in a taunting manner. And then, he stuck it into the man’s neck and emptied the syringe with a flick of his thumb. The man groaned and his knees buckled under him, his hands raised to where Lex had just attacked him with a freaking needle and he let go of his gun.

“I will let you two play and I will go take Superman and head out, if you don’t mind.”

Lex patted the man’s shoulder and started to leave after winking at Kara. The second the man’s eyes focused on her, Kara knew she was screwed.

* * *

Lena swallowed a sharp gasp when Kal pushed her to a wall so they could hide when two men ran past them on the hallway using combat clothes and sporting large guns.

“This is crazy,” Kal whispered after they were gone. “You should have left, I can go find Kara alone.”

Lena stared at him angrily. “I’m already here, ain’t I?”

At that, she pushed him away by placing her palm against his chest and he graciously let her do it by taking a step back. After she could move again, Lena started walking down the hallway again, holding the gun aimed to the floor as she threw nervous looks at every side and corners. She had shoot guns before and she knew how but she had no intention of ever doing that again, and yet there she was. Walking through a gunfire.

Why couldn’t her family do their meetings during Sunday lunches?

“Can you hear them?”

“Yes,” Kal answered behind her. “Lex has a back-up plan.”

Lena made a quick pause to look at him over her shoulder. “He has a back-up plan to the back-up plan he did to the back-up plan to the master plan?”

“Sounds like it.”

She shook her head and scoffed. “Lex has a way for theatricality that it’s hard to believe.” They resumed their walk and Lena was about to push a door open when Kal placed his hand on her arm to stop her from doing that. Before she could ask, he gently pushed her to keep walking until they got to the next door to where she assumed was the right place to go through. “Do you know what he did this time?”

The door opened to a flight of stairs and Lena started to think when exactly Lex found time to carve a full den to himself and his evil plans inside a mountain. She was very aware that Kal could be by Kara’s side in less than a second if he wanted but the man kept following her even if she was sure he would rather not to. She also would rather if she could trust both Supers to deal with her brother without setting things on fire or causing hell to break loose.

Lena was about to turn a corner when Kal held her back again. When she looked at him, he was pressing a finger against his lips and she fought the urge to tell him they didn’t have much time.

“She’s not here,” she heard one voice calling darkly just a few feet from her. “We’re wasting our time, the action is happening in the cell's space. They have Superman there!”

Lena’s green eyes snapped back at Kal in surprise as she wondered how could Lex’s goons be so stupid. Or disorganized, because they clearly didn’t even have a communication device. The man looked right back at her and arched one eyebrow before moving the finger from his lips to point over his shoulder to a door they had just passed by on the hallway. She nodded her agreement and Kal turned around so he could look at the way.

Lena did her best to tiptoe and be as quiet as she could, but she was still wearing the same high heels she used at the ball and, on the third step she took, it made a loud click and she flinched visibly as her eyes closed.

“Oh, no. She’s _here_ ,” a second voice sang happily after a long beat of scary silence where she just held her breath and waited for the outcome.

Kal turned around again but Lena was already pushing him forward. “They don’t know you’re here, go.”

The woman knew he was allowing her to push him and close the door on his face and she only prayed he would let her deal with things. She had no idea how many of Lex’s men were there and they could have kryptonite guns. She knew Lex had tons of those laying around, Sam had found out he made dozens of kryptonite guns on his labs.

Lena took a deep breath before facing the end of the hall again, doing her best to hide the gun behind her back as she waited. And waited. And waited.

“I like a girl who plays games,” the second voice kept chanting. “I really like it, actually. So why don’t you come out here and play?”

Lena had turned into a statue, pressed against the wall mind in blank caused by the fear. As much as they might have kryptonite guns, they could also have normal guns that would work just fine with her.

There was another beat of tense silence and she tried to breathe as quietly as she could while she tried to stop shaking. And fuck, she was shaking so much.

The second a head popped from behind the wall, Lena pushed herself from the wall and stood tall, puffing her chest and holding her chin high. A second head came and, with it, two large smiles when they noticed her just standing there. Waiting for them.

“Look what the wind brought us,” the tall blond dude spoke as he started to walk towards her in slow deliberated moves.

“A beautiful girl,” the other man agreed, shaking his head so his long dirty hair would get out of his eyes.

“Soon to be a dead girl, like boss wants her to be.”

“But we can have some fun first, boss wouldn’t mind.”

“I agree.”

“Are you two twins?” Lena teased with a scoff and waving her free hand around.

The blond laughed. “She has voice.”

“She does.”

“I like it.”

“It’s pretty.”

The man with the long hair had finally reached her and his hand raised slowly, so slowly that it was almost like he was considering where he was going to place it in the first place. Finally, his palm touched her neck and his fingers started to close around her muscles, pressing and squeezing, his smile grew bigger and his blue eyes were taunting her.

Until the loud shot of a gun went off and his eyes went wide in shock, his hand left her, he took a step back, and then he looked down at his own abdomen where she had just shot him.

She thought about it twice, to be fair, the weight of the gun on her hand getting much harder to bear now that it was aimed at someone and not to the floor. Honestly, she didn’t even remember shooting but she knew she has, because the man collapsed into the ground in a blink and, then, she was firing a second shot not even a second later when the blond ran towards her in the middle of an angry scream while his hand reached out to his gun belt. He also fell when a bullet smashed his throat.

The terror kept her in place for long seconds as blood started puddling around her and staining her heels. It was a little ironic that she was wearing red heels, she thought. Really fucking ironic.

Lena jumped when a hand closed around her wrist and her finger twisted like she was about to shoot again but then she looked to the side and saw Kal standing there with a gentle expression while coaxing her to lower the gun.

“It’s okay. They’re gone.”

She looked at the men at her feet and tried to conceive what had just happened but her mind just wasn’t working around the fact that she had shot two people. Gasping for air, she noticed she held her breath for the entirety of her actions. Lena pushed herself back until she was leaning against the cold wall, feeling like she was trying to breathe underwater.

She allowed a moment, just a moment, to gather her thoughts, set her goals straight and allow Kara’s image to flash through her eyes again.

She allowed herself that.

And then she forced herself to keep moving.

Lena pushed herself from the wall for the second time and took several steps away from the blood and over the dead man in front of her. She walked to the end of the hall, then she leaned on the wall with one hand so she could remove her heels with the other, and then she kept moving, barefoot and quietly.

She didn’t look back to see if Superman was following her or not.

He was.

“Lena, I think Kara is in danger. She’s fighting with someone.”

She walked faster.

* * *

Even in the middle of a fight that would probably end up with one of them being dead, the guy looked more inconvenienced than anything. Like he was truly upset to be there but couldn’t be anywhere else either.

Which, Kara thought, was true.

They had broken all of Lex’s lab at that point by throwing each other around and just throwing their fists in every direction but she was also not upset by that. Neither was him, so she considered it was fine to do it. It’s not like Lex would need the lab after he was arrested anyway.

“Look, I don’t know what Lex gave you, but can’t we just, like, I don’t know, talk this out?” Kara asked a little out of breath as she deflected a particularly vicious attack of his fists.

The only answer she got was an angry growl and another punch delivered perfectly on her jaw. She could taste blood pilling up on her mouth and she breathed a curse. She wasn’t supposed to bleed, which meant Lex did something right after all.

Kara prayed that was the only thing he did right.

* * *

They managed to go through three more hallways and Lena was already questioning when Lex had time to not only build a secret den inside a mountain but also turn it into a labyrinth when they came across three other armed men.

Superman took care of them, thankfully. He left them unconscious inside a locker room and they kept walking to were Kal could hear his cousin in trouble.

The next fleet of goons was armed with kryptonite guns but Kal was fast enough and not got hit by anything. Lena didn’t even stop walking until she reached the end of the hallway to where she could go either left or right. Kal was by her side in a second, raising his hand to point the way, when they heard claps from behind them.

They both turned around and their eyes easily found Lex standing several feet from them, still clapping, a large sickening smile on his stupid face.

“My, oh, my!” he chanted. “I spy, with my little eyes, an improbable pair.”

Despite the fear boiling in her guts, Lena scoffed. “And I spy a stupid moron.”

“It would have been epic, you know,” Lex statted, clearly ignoring her jab. “Attacking the president, coming up with an indestructible army, possibly creating a racial war, but who cares about that small detail?”

Lena held the gun a bit tighter. It hadn’t gone unnoticed to her that Lex was also holding a gun and, if the fact that Kal hadn’t moved yet was any indication, there weren’t normal bullets in there.

“What about mom?” she asked. “What was her part in this? When did you two decide to work together again?”

“I still hate her, don’t worry,” Lex replied with another smile and a shrug. “But I promised her she could kill some aliens along the way and she was all into my plan then. Including your little alien whore. She really wanted to catch that one.”

“Kara doesn’t like to be called a whore,” Lena pursed her lips as she tried to keep her mind in focus, especially when Kal started changing his weight from one foot to another behind her. “She was going to be a wife.”

“You’re right, she was,” her brother sighed deeply. “You just had to ruin things to me, didn’t you? You couldn’t just go with the flow? Marry the stupid alien, have her freak babies and then get killed as I planned? Was that too much to ask from you?”

“Well, I’m sorry you’re so bitter that I was able to live my gay romance and you weren’t.”

Lex’s forehead slowly crinkled into a deep frown as he grew confused at her words. “... What?”

She saw with the corner of her eyes as Kal turned to the side, bent his knees a little and got ready for something to happen. Lena couldn’t see what it was but it had to be something big if the Man of Steel had to get ready for it.

“You know, with you being in love with Superman and all.”

Lena’s words caused a chain of reaction that she wasn’t expecting. Lex’s jaws went slack in shock at the same moment Kal shouted “What?!” as he turned to look at her like a second head had just shown up in her back. The distraction was enough for hell to break loose because suddenly there was a loud ‘BANG!’ and then Kal was hit with a green light and sent flying away fast, hitting the floor so hard that the tyles flew around him. She was afraid that something was about to happen to her as well, but the men who shot Kal ran right pass her to go straight towards him.

“Wh-What?” Lex asked in complete and utter confusion. “I’m not in love with Superman!”

“Oh.” It was time for Lena to react a bit surprised. She quirked one eyebrow and hesitated for a second. “But Kara said-“

“What the hell is wrong with you two? You know what? It doesn’t matter.” Lex started making his way down the hall. “I’m going to kill you anyway.”

Lena could still hear the fight happening behind her, men shouting, Kal groaning, guns firing. She hoped he was fine. He was hit with kryptonite and, even if there were only two men after him, it was already enough if he was weakened by the green rock. And Lex was walking straight at her, she was alone, she had no idea what she was supposed to do now that her brother was right in front of her.

She knew she had to find him, Lena just didn’t think about what she was going to do once she did.

“Where’s Kara?”

“She’s busy,” Lex replied with a shrug. “You know, I’m a scientist man. I’m putting a little project into testing phase.”

“What project?” she asked and arched one brow at him.

He was close enough that, if they both extended their arms, their fingers would brush. “I injected some manipulated Kryptonian DNA on Carl.”

“Who’s Carl?”

Lex smiled at her. “A man who’s now part Kryptonian as well. I believe he’s killing your pet as we speak.”

The gun in her hand shook dangerously. “Not clones.”

“Also clones,” he corrected her by raising one finger. “But not only that. I wanted to find a way to transform people into super-soldiers. People who had the same attributes of a Super, but who isn’t... a freak like them. Carl is my first test.”

“So, like, Wolverine?”

Opening and closing his mouth like a fish a couple of times, Lex huffed after a couple of seconds. “I guess.”

Lena nodded. “I need you to make him stop, if you don’t mind. I kind of need Kara.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“I need her because she’s going to be my wife one day,” Lena chimed in the same sarcastic tone he used.

Lex’s grimace was almost comical. “You could keep that one if I didn’t have plans to kill all the Supers once I have what I need.”

“You talk too much,” Lena said as a later thought.

“Well, I have to explain why I do things, you know.” He was close enough that now only one of them had to extend one arm so they would be touching. “You see when I was a kid all I wanted was to-“

Lena didn’t even register as his next words became muffled when the barrel of her revolver settled between Lex’s yellowed teeth. His teeth clacked on the metal as he howled in shock, trying to take steps away from her, but he could only go so far before he hit a wall and then Lena was gagging him with the gun.

“You really need to shut up, Lex,” she tilted her head to the side, looking almost regretful, but her green eyes were void of any emotions just like her mind was empty of any thoughts.

She thought she might have heard Kal calling her name from somewhere behind her. She wasn’t sure. She didn’t know anything that wasn’t Lex groaning defensive, and probably offensive, words around the barrel of the gun Maggie had loaned her and the way she could feel the back of his throat at the end of it like it was her own hand.

“You did _something_ ,” she whispered distractedly like she wasn’t even aware of the words leaving her mouth, “unforgivable, dear brother. You shouldn’t have done that.” He blinked at her and she stared back at him. “And if your dream as a child was to become a complete piece of shit, I think you achieved it just fine.”

Whatever sounds going on around her became nothing but a whisper in the dark corner of her mind when her gun blew the back of his brains out against the wall of his own den.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lena: I need to save Kara!  
> Kal: I'm going to help you!  
> Kara: *is handing things perfectly fine on her own*... *until she doesn't*


	20. The beginning of our end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is officially coming to an end! Maybe two or three more chapters and I will be done, just so you guys know where we are in this

The reality of what she had done hit her ten or fifteen seconds later.

Her eyes moved from Lex’s face to her bloodied hand and she slowly, so freaking slowly, started to think rationally again. Lena took a step back in completely disgusted and eager to move away as fast as she could so she wouldn’t have to see her brother’s brain on the wall anymore, but then her back hit in something hard as a rock and she gasped in fear.

When she turned, gun raising out of instinct, she came face to face with Superman. He held the gun, not carrying that the barrel had not only blood on it, but also pieces of teeth, tongue, and brain, and gently pulled it out of her hand. Lena had a vice grip on it and, for a second, she refused to let go like she was expecting she would need to use it again, however she allowed him to take it away from her and lowered her hand again when he gave it another pull.

Kal looked helplessly behind her with an odd kind of look in his eye that she couldn’t decipher. It came to her, after some deliberation, that Lex used to be his friend. And now he had to see his former best friend’s brain splashed against the wall.

After a moment or two, his eyes moved back to hers. “I believe Kara is done, we should go meet her.” Lena wanted to argue that she couldn’t possibly see Kara when she had blood all over her dress, arms, and legs, but she couldn’t find her voice. “I’m going to pick you up. Is that okay?”

At first, the instinct to push away was stronger than the need to get away from her murdered brother. For a brief moment, she wished to turn around and run as fast as she could to get as far as she could go. On the other hand, Kal could easily catch her if she tried. So she nodded and, suddenly, he was scooping her under her knees like a child.

“You don’t have to look,” he told her kindly as he made sure her head was turned to his own body so her eyes would be covered.

She was glad for the small display of consideration, especially from the man who had just seen her killing her own brother and heard her killing other two men.

That’s when it all drow to her. _I killed three people. I killed my brother_.

* * *

Lena wanted nothing but nothingness. Void, blank, vacuous, hollow. Whatever you want to call it.

They found Alex and the rest of the DEO’s agents before they found Kara. They were just coming like a lightning bolt after hearing gunshots. Alex told her they had Lillian under custody, that they had no casualties, and they were going through every corner of the mountain to arrest every single one of Lex’s henchmen. And that was when, of course, she asked about him.

“He’s-He’s dead,” Kal answered in a whisper like he didn’t want Lena to hear it. Like she didn’t know. Like she didn’t kill him herself. He didn’t tell her then, but Lena was sure she was going to find out at some point.

“We need to find Kara,” Alex declared after throwing a nervous glance at Lena. Like she knew. Like she just knew.

Kal had put Lena down when the group met but he moved to pick her up again when Alex turned around to start searching. However, Maggie took the lead by placing a hand on his strong shoulder blades and stopped him. “Let me. I will take her to where our team is reunited at the exit of the cave and we will wait for you there.”

Kal nodded, Alex nodded, J’onn nodded, so Lena thought she had no option but to nod as well. The small, strong-looking woman placed a firm hand on her lower back and started leading the way.

If someone asked Lena to make the same way back, she would never be able to do it. She paid no attention to the turns and different hallways and chaotic walls, she just went to whenever Maggie was taking her until she could see the daylight. It startled her that it was still day because it felt like she had spent years inside those walls.

When they reached the outside, an improvised police station had been clearly staged there, with several DEO’s agents and from the NCPD. Maggie took her to a booth and then kicked out the two cops who were there.

“Here, put this on,” the detective said as she removed her own jacket.

Lena still didn’t have the strength to complain so she simply accepted it and slid the warm clothing item up her arms. She had only half the piece of mind to ask her if she minded all the blood that would get in the leather, but Lena also didn’t want to ask either. Admittedly, she felt a little better when she couldn’t see the blood on her arms anymore and the warmth was also welcome.

When she got out her thoughts again, Maggie was in front of her holding a water bottle and a towel. “Do you want to wash your hands?”

Of course, Alex knew, Lena thought. She had blood all over herself.

Lena nodded, then the smaller woman opened the bottle and motioned for her to extend her hands in front of her body as far away as she could. The other woman did exactly that and she watched as the detective poured water on her palms, how the liquid went from translucent to light pink, to dark pink, to red in a matter of seconds. Once the water was all gone, Maggie gave her the towel and Lena started the deliberated job to dry her hands. She was thankful it wasn’t a white towel. That would be just cruel.

“Are you injured?”

Maggie arched one eyebrow at her. “No, I’m not. Are you?”

Lena shook her head, her voice suddenly gone again, and they stood in silence for a minute. Finally, the detective sighed and moved until they were standing shoulder to shoulder while looking at the booth opening.

“Are you hungry?”

“No,” Lena breathed.”I just want to go home.”

* * *

Lena breathed in and out. She had to remind herself to breathe in and out. It wouldn’t be the first time in her life she had to do it and battle a panic attack at the same time but it was the first time she had a ragged Kryptonian in front of her.

And when did Kara get in front of her in the first place?

She was talking with Maggie a second ago and now she not only couldn’t see the detective, but Kara was there and she wasn’t in the booth she was before.

And Kara’s lips were moving. Too fast for Lena to grasp the words.

And the world around her kept moving. Too fast for Lena to understand how.

“Lena,” Kara’s voice sank in for the first time, “please say something,” she begged, large, strong hands wrapped around Lena’s biceps.

Lena flicked her tongue on her lips in a slow deliberate move. “I might have...” Her voice died in the back of her throat, too heavy to keep talking. “You’re here,” she pointed needlessly as she shook her head slowly. “Are you okay?”

Kara nodded. “So are you,” she promised.

Lena didn’t believe her.

* * *

Kara was still mad after Lena’s panic attack was gone.

“Why did you come here? Why did you follow me? Why...” Why? Why? Why?

The answer to all of those questions was the same and Lena didn’t know why she kept asking them.

“Because I love you.”

Which she did.

And then she asked the blonde why she lied to her, and why she went there alone, and why she made a whole plan behind her back, and why she didn’t trust Lena with those pieces of information.

“Because I love you.”

To which Lena answered they were both stupid.

“We should have realized we’re stronger together,” Kara replied after she got a little less angry.

Lena wasn’t angry anymore. In fact, she was just... numb.

“What happened to Carl?”

“Who’s Carl?”

“The man L-“ She couldn’t say his name. She simply couldn’t do it. Lena took a sip from the coffee Maggie had brought her and sighed. It tasted like mud but that’s all she had. “That was the man who got Kryptonian DNA injected on him.”

“Oh,” Kara wiggled her legs as she breathed out.

They were sitting on top of a bench as they watched the agents around them work. Man after man after man was being removed from inside the den, handcuffed and escorted by cops. Boxes and more boxes of guns were being carried by other agents, and Lena even saw some other DEO agents carrying kryptonite. Kal had been removed already, they had used the same helicopter Lena had taken to get there, as they decided it was better if they took him back to the DEO to run some exams on him to make sure everything was fine.

He also wanted to see his wife after four months of being held captivity.

Lena was not going to judge him for that.

“I chained him with some kryptonite chains I found. I believe the DEO will search for a way to heal him and remove the DNA from his body.”

Kara didn’t kill him, Lena realized. She had reasons to. The man was trying to kill her and he could have, but she didn’t kill him. She spared his life.

Lena didn’t spare anyone’s life.

She killed three men.

She killed her own brother.

“He was going to frame you,” Kara said after a few minutes when they saw J’onn taking Lillian from the den. “He had a whole scam and he was going to blame you all for it. The president and the clones. He was going to frame you for that, then he would use his super-soldiers like a saving grace or something, so people would be more willing to support him and his crazy ideas.”

“Of course he would,” Lena replied under her breath as her shoulders dropped.

J’onn pushed Lillian inside a second helicopter and Lena watched as her mother, the woman who raised – doing a poor job of doing so, but doing it nonetheless - , was put under custody.

“He already had it all planned. That’s why he asked you to come back and start working for him. To work on Luthor Corporation, you have to register your fingertips and all. He used that to incriminate you.”

“How did you found out all of this?” She sounded tired, Lena was aware. And she was. There was nothing she wanted more than climb on her bed and sleep for three or four months non-stop.

Kara sounded almost guilty when she answered her question. “I did some investigation with the DEO while you were at work.”

Lena nodded. “That explains why your sister hated me so much.”

“I never doubted you, Lena.”

The brunette looked down at her bloodied nails, the dried blood under her nails, the slight pink skin on her palms, the red barely hidden under the sleeve of Maggie’s leather jacket. Lena knew she looked ridiculous using a black dress, leather jacket, being barefoot and having blood all over herself, but she truly didn’t have a choice on her fashion at that moment.

“Maybe you should have,” she whispered, the red taunting her.

* * *

They flew back with Alex.

No one said a thing.

When they landed, Lena gave her Maggie’s jacket and called for a cab. “I want to go home.”

Kara wasn’t mad anymore when they reached her house. She also wasn’t happy.

She looked like she was walking on eggs, much like the time Lena invaded her bedroom to grab a bra. However, she was there when Lena left the shower, skin so red from scrubbing that it was almost painful to slip on her nightclothes.

The blonde laid down on the bed so far away from her that Lena almost cried. “Can’t you come closer?” she asked with a weak exasperated sigh. “I need you closer.”

“I wasn’t sure you wanted me closer,” Kara confessed just as quietly as she wiggled her body on the bed until their hands were touching under the covers.

“If I could, I would have you _in_ me right now.” She realized the sexual connotation behind her words a second later and then she rolled her eyes. “Not like _that_ . Just... Just so I could not be me for a moment. So I could be someone else.”

Kara finally turned around so she could pull Lena into her arms and they both took a deep breath like it was the first one they took after almost drowning. “You don’t have to be anyone else.”

“I killed people, Kara.”

“They were going to kill _you_.”

Lena didn’t have the strength to argue. In fact, that became very common to her, she realized.

“I was really scared,” the smaller woman whispered. “I felt like a coward, almost shitting my pants.”

“You’re not a coward, Lena Luthor. You’re one of the bravest people I have ever met.” Kara kissed her shoulder to make her point.

“I wish I could say I didn’t want to kill him. I wish I could say I wished he was still alive.” Lena sighed. “I can’t.” Another sigh, deeper and sadder. “When did I decided my life worthed more than his?”

Kara hugged her tighter. “For me, it does.”

* * *

Lena had no idea what time it was when she woke up. The curtains were down, she couldn’t look outside, and she was still tired, so it could have been ten minutes or ten hours for all she knew.

“You’re awake,” came the whisper from behind her, mumbled against her neck. “Someone from the police will be here in a few to take your statement about everything that happened.”

“Maybe my mother and I can share a cell,” Lena replied in a neutral tone.

Kara hugged her tighter.

* * *

The knocking on the front door was so abrasive that it might be happening on Lena’s head. She sighed as she put her mug down and moved to open the door to the agents who would certainly try to get the last of the Luthors locked away.

Instead, she came face to face with J’onn.

“Kara needs to go to the DEO to make some exams,” he declared before any greeting was made.

“But I’m fine,” the woman argued from behind her. Lena hadn’t even realized she had sneaked on her. “And the police will be here soon to talk with Lena and I want to-”

“You should go,” Lena interrupted her. “We need to be sure you’re fine.”

“But the cops-“

“I will be fine.”

Kara was sliding her jacket when she turned around to give Lena a look. “We will talk when I get back.”

Lena nodded.

* * *

Lena knew what she had to do. What Kara had to do.

They weren't the same people they were when they met. Kara wasn't the same person she was before she was taken away from her life. Lena wasn't the same person she was before she moved back to the US.

They needed time to find out who they were as individuals, who they had become and the people they wished to be. Lena plotted against her own family, she had shot and killed her own brother and two other men, sent her mother to jail, she wasn't sure she could be considered any better than Lillian or Lex Luthor. She needed time to come to terms with herself and she couldn't do that while trying to maintain a relationship because it wouldn't be fair to Kara.

And Kara needed an opportunity to live the life she never had before, to find out who she is after the traumatic experience she had and how she felt about Lena in this new world she was being thrown at.

It was going to hurt, Lena knew it by heart, but that didn't mean it wasn't the right thing to do.

"I want you to get your life back, Kara. I want you to get a home, hang out with your friends, find a job, go out for drinks and just _live_. You have the chance to have all of this. The last thing I want is for you to keep being stuck with me."

They were sitting on her balcony, looking up at the stars as they avoided looking at each other. There was no cape flying on top of them that night, hidden in the shadows. There was no sister sleeping on the couch or friends guarding doors. There was no evil brothers and sick families. It was only them, for the first time.

"I'm not stuck with you," Kara tried to argue but it sounded weak even to her own ears. She knew Lena wasn’t wrong.

"You won't know if you don't try to leave, will you?"

"I know you're right, but... Rao, I love you so much.” The blonde looked down at her own hands and sighed.

Lena smirked. “Maybe you will keep loving me. I know I will love you.”

* * *

“Ruby was missing you so much!” Sam chuckled when she saw her daughter running down the hall to grab the chessboard so she could play it with her favorite auntie. “I’m glad you’re back in the country, even if all this madness went down.” She turned to face her friend again. “But, hey, madness or not, now the devil is defeated and you two can be together for real.”

“Actually,” Lena started with a deep sigh as she swirled the red liquid on her glass. She still had to drink it. She wished Sam had white wine and not red. “We decided to take a break.”

“A break?” Sam asked in disbelief, crossing her arms and arching her eyebrows.

Lena nodded. “Yes.” She took a couple of seconds to collect herself, to hold back the lump on her throat, to bite back the tears. “Kara has this newfound freedom and I... don’t. I have so much on my plate right now and the last thing I want is to drag Kara to this mess. Not to mention that we got together under unusual circumstances. We talked and agreed that it’s best if we take a break and find out who we are and what we want for our lives from now on.” She finally gathered the courage to drink the wine, the burn of the alcohol instantly calming her nerves a little. “And what we feel for each other now that we’re out of the bubble we were living in.”

Her friend didn’t say anything for a while. In fact, Sam didn’t say anything until Lena was on her second game against Ruby.

“That’s brave.”

Lena scoffed. “You can say that’s crazy, it’s okay.”

Sam shook her head. “I meant it.”

Lena smiled a thankful smile at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alex: Next time you find yourself a girlfriend, can you please not get one with an evil family?  
> Kara: ... Where would be the fun in that?


	21. I'd drown into you if I could

Lena found a psychologist first thing on Monday.

She stopped by after leaving the police station where she had her statement took for the third time.

After her first appointment, she went to talk with her lawyers.

* * *

She bought another place to live in. A penthouse in the highest building in town, perfect for her to see every corner of National City, with a large balcony and a private elevator.

The first thing she did was to upgrade the security system. A password to open the elevator, card-lock system to reach her floor, fingerprints to leave the elevator, iris scanner to open the door she added right after the elevator and before entering her apartment, bulletproofs windows, and a different password to the balcony door.

The security system team looked at her like she was crazy.

Lena asked them what else they had to offer.

* * *

At first, she just slept. She wasn't feeling like doing anything else.

She never dreamed.

* * *

She wrote a letter to Lillian.

The psychiatric said it could make her good to tell her how she feels.

So Lena wrote three small paragraphs explaining how Lillian constantly telling her she's worthless, treating her like disposable garbage, depriving her of any positive human interaction and plotting against Lena's life destroyed her childhood and made her become a fucked up human being in her adult life. She also said she would have preferred if Lillian had hit her with her fists because she could have gotten over the physical scars. Then she wrote that one time she dropped Lillian's toothbrush in the sanitary and placed it back for her to use it.

After all of that, she burned the letter with a match and went to sleep.

* * *

She couldn't sleep forever so she got up and started moving.

* * *

Lena missed Kara and the little life they had created inside her apartment. Her house was much quieter without Kara, almost like no one lived there.

To be fair, sometimes she wasn't even sure she lived there either.

She hadn't turned the stereo since Kara left.

She touched the coffee machine like it was her source of life, though. Kara made her promise she wouldn't lose control of her drinking habit - she wondered how Kara knew because she hadn't gotten drunk in front of her enough times for her to know it could become a problem. But she said nothing about the coffee.

Lena thought it was only fair.

She couldn't live without Kara AND coffee AND alcohol.

She could live without the mattress they shared many times before, so she did.

* * *

"Why are you here?"

Lena smiled slowly at the psychiatrist. "I need to go back to my wife."

"I didn't know you were married."

"I'm not." Lena huffed a humorless laugh. "You should ask her though."

She was diagnosed with PTSD, depression, and anxiety shortly after.

* * *

A week after Lillian’s pre-trial, Lena decided she needed to clean up her mother’s house. The police had already made a hell of a job there, things were everywhere and they clearly didn’t give a shit about the woman Lillian Luthor once was. Lena looked at the house she grew up at and decided no cleaning team would step inside.

She was going to do it herself.

Like poetic justice, she would clean up her past.

* * *

"The first gift I ever received was an Oxford hoodie."

"How old were you?" The psychologist, a woman Lena only later realized was James’ sister, was making notes and writing down on her notebook as usual.

"Sixteen. I went to a college fair with a friend, Samantha, and they were selling shirts and hoodies from different colleges. I told Sam I dreamed about going to Oxford because it was far away from my family, but that MIT had a better program for what I was aiming for. My birthday was two days later and she gave me a hoodie from the University of Oxford."

"No one had never given you a gift before?" Drª. Olsen looked up at her, hand still writing even if she wasn’t looking at the paper anymore.

Lena liked her, she realized.

"No, people did, I was just not allowed to keep them. Lillian would take them and hide it before I could even open to see what was inside. I found them when she got arrested and I went to clean up the house. It was last week. They were just _there_. Never touched. She just didn't want me to have it to deprive me of any joy. That's all."

There was a pause and Lena knew what question was coming up next. She had learned to ask herself that same question over the last couple of months.

"And how does that make you feel?"

"...Mad.... and very sad."

A week later, Lena gave away the toys to the children's hospital.

* * *

She stumbled over Winn quite literally. He caught her by her elbows before she could go ass first in the ground.

"Lena! Hey! I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

Lena lied like she was taught how to. "I'm fine. What about you?"

Winn flashed her a smile and she wasn't sure how someone could smile that bright inside a supermarket with dozens of people around. "I'm great!"

And then there was that odd type of silence where you have been friends with a person for a while and things got weird between you two because of something else and you just don't know how to exist around each other anymore. From all the things Lillian taught her, doing small talk wasn't one of these so when she spoke again she knew she sounded exactly like a robot.

"How's work going?"

"Oh, really nice! Cat is letting me write about the Science festival next month. Are you going to be there?"

"I'm afraid not," Lena shrugged. "I'm going to be out of town to talk to some investors."

"Oh," Winn breathed at the same time his eyes went wide. "You're-You're going to re-open Luthor Corporation?"

"That was always the plan," Lena nodded. "Just putting everything together." It was true. Give up on the company her father worked so hard to build was never an option, even she was spending every second of her life putting it together from the ashes and working to change the view Lex created on aliens.

The weird silence came again while Winn nodded along with her words and she started thinking she would have to fake an episode to get away but then her friend spoke again in a much softer tone.

"Kara is working with me now."

Lena gulped. Hard. Loud. Uncomfortable.

"I mean, she had written some articles for CatCo before but Cat hired her as her assistant a few weeks ago."

She couldn't deal with it. Breathe. Think. Live.

"She misses you."

Lena was never stabbed before but that's exactly what she thought it would feel like.

Winn looked at something over her shoulder and smiled. She turned around. It was Mon-El. Without his cape. Just him and a silly smile and fifteen bags of Cheetos in his hands and pilling up in front of his face.

"We're all set for movie night! Did you grabbed Alex's beer?"

The stab wound in her chest seemed to ease and fade because, if Alex was going to be there, so would Kara. She deserved it.

* * *

She binge-watched seven TV shows in one weekend. It was the Holidays and no one was working anywhere in the world, which meant she couldn't do much besides sitting on her couch.

She made a list of her favorite shows so she could show them to Kara.

And since she was already listing things, she made one of her favorite books.

Somehow she ended up with a two pages list of everything she likes about Kara. Then she had to make a list of reasons why they were doing the right thing so she wouldn't grab her phone and call her.

* * *

"Have you two talked?" Sam was supposed to be reading the contract she gave her.

"No," Lena wanted to tell her to pay attention because that was their most important contract. "I wanted to call her after I saw the news but... I don't know."

"Are you talking about Supergirl saving a plane from crashing?"

Like there was anything else in the news for the last two days. That was literally all she could see in any channel she put on.

A new Superhero. Superman's cousin.

Supergirl.

She wanted to ask why Kara was using the name Lex gave her. She wanted to ask her why she flew to save a plane in the first place. She wanted to ask her if she had found out who she is.

Instead, she set down on her office and wrote five different contracts business deals and took a train to go see Sam even if she could have emailed them to her.

"You should call her,” her friend declared like it was obvious.

"Why?" she replied like it wasn’t obvious.

"So she knows you're not mad."

"Why would I be mad?"

"You killed your brother so she could have a life and she just exposed herself to every single person in the world."

"I didn’t kill Lex because of her,” Lena quickly shot the words that felt bitter as they rolled down her tongue. She was still working on the reason why she did what she did. One step at a time. “And I'm not mad."

"So tell her that."

* * *

She didn't but that night she dreamed that she did.

* * *

Luthor Corporation became L-Corp. She removed every item ever sold out by Luthor Corporation from the market and started the intensive propaganda on behalf of the aliens allocated on Earth. She then dragged her family's name on the mud in order to rise from it stronger and, hopefully, better.

She moved her office to Lex's old space, changed the glass table for a white one, put some beige curtains on the large windows and bought a couch.

Her first working day as the CEO was also the first day she got certain she was in the right way.

It was a rocky way, but it was the right one.

* * *

Lena took one last glance around her office to make sure everything was in order. There was still a box at the corner waiting for her to remove the books from, but she hoped it was well hidden by some old chair.

It wasn't every day she received in her office the man who was kidnapped by her brother.

When she got the call from The Daily Planet asking her for an interview to talk about her new post on L-Corp, the last person she expected to be sent over to talk to her was Clark Kent. She hadn't seen the man since she shot her brother right in front of him. Literally blew his head on a wall.

So she supposed she was authorized to be a little nervous to see him again. Especially because she had her suspicions that he asked to be sent there so he could keep an eye out for her. She couldn't blame him for that but she also wished her last name wouldn't haunt her forever.

She had changed the company's name officially to L-Corp so people would slowly stop associating it with the Luthors but she couldn't change her name. Well, she could. What she couldn't do was not be one of them regardless of her name. At least for other people.

A knock took her out of her thoughts and she looked up in time to see Jess's smile. "Mr. Kent is here to see you."

Lena gulped but nodded. "You can send him in, Jess. Thank you."

When Clark Kent entered her office, she could feel the air around her change. He exhaled power and confidence in a way Lena could only hope she could mimic one day. "Ms. Luthor," he greeted in his deep voice with a tight nod.

She rounded her desk to shake his hand. It was callused and hard. "Mr. Kent. It is nice to see you again." He didn't extend the pleasantly. She couldn't blame him for that either. "Do you mind if we do the interview here?"

"No, not at all." Clark shook his head. "But... Well, CatCo ended up hearing about my coming and they decided they wanted a scoop as well."

Lena had declined every attempt of an interview from CatCo like a plague. Cat Grant could forgive her but Lena wasn't going to take a risk to have Winn, or James, or Mon-El or... someone else sent over to talk with her.

Was it childish to avoid a name?

She didn't care, to be honest.

"I will ask my assistant to call them," Lena declared instead of keep thinking about it.

"Actually," Clark took a deep breath, "they already sent someone to talk with you."

It was only when he moved his hand to the doorknob that she realized how close to the door he still was. It was almost like he hadn't entered her office at all. Clark pushed the door open to reveal no one else other than Kara Danvers herself.

If the sky came down on top of her right at that moment, Lena probably wouldn't even have realized it.

When Kara walked inside, shy smile and a small notebook and a pen in her hands, using a beautiful white dress, pink blazer and her black glasses, the same she bought her, Lena wondered how you can run from a thing that comes crashing right into you.

"I see you still keep boxes around,” Kara teased after a quick scan of her eyes around her new office.

Not so very well hidden then. Not from Kara, at least. Never from Kara.

Lena gulped. "I'm going to open that one."

"Promise?" Kara arched one eyebrow at her and the CEO of L-Corp wondered if the woman’s cousin even understood what they were talking about.

"I got better at working on the boxes, one might say," Lena replied with a soft smile.

* * *

“What are you going to do now?” Sam asked kindly and softly as she swirled around some of her macaroni.

Lena sighed. “Did you know I haven’t gone into the water since I was five?”

Confused, Sam looked up from her plate and frowned. "What?

The CEO nodded. “The last time I went to the beach or a lake or something, I was five.”

A long, long silence fell over them, interrupted only by the clink of Lena’s glass hitting the table or Sam’s fork grabbing more food. The silence was so long that Sam was almost resigned that Lena’s cryptical answer would be the only thing she would get from her friend. But then, Lena sighed again and started talking.

“My mother,” she pursed her lips a little, feeling how dry they had gone suddenly, and how bile came up to the back of her tongue. “My real mother took me to a lake when I was four. We were going to have a fun family day, swim and just spend some time together. At some point, I got tired and decided to go back to the shore, but my mom... my mom kept swimming.” Lena looked down at the scotch she had served to herself and pressed her lips into a thin line. “She drowned,” her voice was nothing but a whisper in the end.

“Lena...” Sam put her cutlery down and reached out to touch her friend’s arm but she stopped in the last second when she noticed how Lena flinched a little.

“She loved the water. She used to talk about the sea all the time, how much she wanted to see it, how much she wanted to spend a day at a beach, how much bigger it was compared to a lake. I never understood what she was talking about because the lake we went to seemed big enough to me,” Lena breathed a chuckle at the memory and Sam smiled watery at her. “Lionel took me to see the sea after I went living with him. I think... I believe he thought it would make me good, that it would make me feel closer to her if we went to throw her ashes together at the one place she said she always wanted to go at. It was early in the morning, maybe before six or right after that, and we were at this small pier. I remember the fog, it felt heavy, I could taste the salt.

“And she was right. It was enormous but it looked nothing like she described it to be. It was just... silent. There were no people, no boats, no animals, even the birds were gone. When I saw my father... dropping her at the water I felt... sad. I couldn’t understand why he was going to make her spent forever in the same place that killed her.” Lena took a deep breath, leaning back against her chair. “Lionel and I never had a good relationship after that. I don’t think my father was a good man, I don’t think he was right in the things he did and I’m not sad he died. But, every time I think back to the day he drove me to that beach, I realize that I felt for him and he felt for me more in those few minutes than we ever felt for each other in the decade we lived together after that. And, when I remember his face looking at the sea, I can understand how a man can love a thing so much that part of him dies when he loses it.”

Sam finally reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand so tight that it definitely had to be painful. “I’m sorry.”

“I avoided the water ever since. I wasn’t brave enough to go near it,” the smaller woman turned her palm up so she could squeeze Sam’s hand back and sighed. “I have only seen a glimpse of what the sea is and I’m terrified of it. Just to think about going near it scares the shit out of me. It makes me remember of my mom and lost loves and broken hearts and pain.” Her eyes finally rose from her glass to look at her friend and she offered her a smile. “Kara is my sea, I’m afraid. I know what it feels like to love it, but I also saw what it can do if you lose the thing you love, and I’m terrified.”

Another long pause. Sam knew Lena sometimes vent to her not because she needed advice or anything of the kind. Sometimes she just needed to voice her own thought so her head wouldn’t feel like there were bricks inside. So she let the silence embrace them one more time until she felt her best friend relax and her breath even out.

“You could write poems,” Sam said.

Lena rolled her eyes. “Like I have time for that.”

* * *

On the third interview – the complete unnecessary interview they both pretended CatCo still needed to have - Kara put her notebook down and smiled up at her. "We're having a Game Night this Friday. It's going to be in my apartment, you should come."

"You bought an apartment?" Lena asked with a small grin.

Kara's eyes widened a little. "Oh, no. No, no." She was still using her glasses and she didn't lose the habit of pushing it up her nose when she got nervous. Lena thought it was the cutest thing. "I never left National City, you know. I was just living with Alex but I needed to leave her apartment at some point so I rented a flat close to CatCo."

"Oh."

"You should come," she repeated after a beat of silence.

Lena considered it for a second. "Your sister is going to kill me."

They shared a complicit smile as Kara raised her eyebrows. "Still scared of my sister?"

"Don't let her know that." They both chuckled and Lena eventually nodded. "I will do my best to be there if you promise not to let her kill me."

"I will deal with her."

* * *

Alex waved at her from the armchair she was sitting on. Maggie was sitting on the floor by her feet, resting her back against the agent’s legs, and she waved as well. Winn shouted an excited “Lena!” while Mon-El tried to chug his beer in large gulps. James smiled at Lena and greeted her like a polite person.

But Alex waved at her.

“I told you she would come!” Kara exclaimed at her friends as walked behind Lena and stick her tongue out at them. Then she placed her hands on the CEO’s shoulders and started leading her to an empty space on her small couch.

Lena let her do it, even if she wasn’t sure how she would fit between Winn and James. But Kara shoved her down gently and Lena plopped herself in the tiny space between both men.

“We’re playing Monopoly first,” Winn declared, clearly doing his best to ignore Mon-El’s feet digging his thigh. The alien was sitting on the armrest, feet on top of the couch and poking Winn’s thigh, but Kara didn’t seem bothered by her friend’s actions.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Kara asked over the noise that installed around the room while people tried to defend their right to chose the first game they were going to play.

“Just water is fine.” Lena smiled up at her, trying not to be bothered by James’ shoulders brushing against hers or Winn’s knees bumping into her leg.

“You sure?” The blonde asked. “I don’t have a coffee machine but I did buy coffee.”

Lena shook her head. “I’m not drinking coffee at night anymore.”

“Oh,” Kara hesitated for only a second before turning around to go grab a cup of water on her kitchen.

When she returned, she handed her the cup and eased herself to the ground right in front of Lena, sitting with her back turned at the CEO, much like Maggie was set with Alex. “Guys, it’s Lena’s first Game Night! Let her chose!”

Somehow Lena’s hand started playing with blonde curls at some point during the night but that didn’t distract her from her goal and she ended up winning every game they played that night.

Kara seemed truly impressed by it and Lena blushed when the blonde smiled at her after James declared he wouldn’t be coming when Lena was around.

“Sorry, James. We will miss you.” Blue eyes never left Lena’s face when she spoke. She didn’t even realize Alex rolling her eyes, or Maggie hiding a giggle behind her hand, or Winn’s large smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> James: We have been friends for years now, I enjoy this friendship.  
> Kara: Can you leave so Lena has a place to sit? Thank you!


	22. Dating 101

They agreed to meet at Noonan’s the next day for breakfast right before Lena left the loft and went back to her large, empty penthouse. Her friends ended up convincing her to take a couple of drinks after Alex announced she and Maggie were engaged, which was a complete shock to Lena because, even if she had realized something was going on between them, she had no idea it was so serious that they were not only discussing marriage but actually going to do it. She was truly happy for them, though. Alex demonstrated a softness around Maggie that made Lena’s heart a bit warm for her, despite the rough start they had.

Because of the few drinks she had, it was a little hard to remember all the passwords to enter her house but she was able to get inside just fine, to which she considered calling the security system company to rub that in their face and their ‘are you sure you will be able to handle it?’ speech.

Lena couldn’t sleep all night because of her nerves. She rolled, punched her pillows, huffed, read, watched TV, worked and cried out of frustration, but she simply couldn’t sleep all night.

They had met a total of four times since the _episode_ and, as lovely as every time felt, Lena was kind of expecting the other shoe to drop. The first time, Clark was there – she still had a hard time remembering she shouldn’t be calling him Kal anymore. The second time, Nia, an intern under Kara’s wing, tagged along so she could gather some experience. The third time, they were alone but Lena’s phone just wouldn’t stop ringing. And the last time was in Kara’s apartment with all of her friends.

And, even if she knew Noonan’s wasn’t going to be empty by any means, it still made her nervous because it felt like it was their first time alone. More than that, it felt like a date. But Kara hadn’t named it like one and Lena didn’t want to assume.

That’s what kept her awake all night.

She could always use a friend, she thought as she pulled her skirt up. All she had was Sam and she lived in another city, so, all in all, Lena would be fine if she left Noonan’s with a friend.

Of course that thinking that didn’t change the fact that she felt like a nervous wreck as she tried to concentrate enough to answer Jess’s texts while waiting in the booth right in the corner. The place was already filling with costumers and she was glad to see her usual table was free for her to take when she got in. They had agreed to meet up at 8 am, but the time on her phone was showing a very bright 8:09 screaming right at her face.

Maybe Kara decided to do them a favor and not show up so they could push the whole thing to the side and stop feeling attached to each other like there was an invisible line between them. Because that’s exactly how Lena felt. She didn’t even allow herself to glance at another person with seconds thoughts during the five months since she and Kara called their thing out because, deep inside her, Lena still felt like she was connected with the blonde somehow.

It was weird.

She decided that buying a person did that to you and that’s why it was so weird. So maybe Kara realized the same thing and decided she had enough. Maybe she was putting Lena out of her misery by not showing up and basically going ‘hey, you’re free to go!’.

When the clock switched to 8:13, Lena huffed and blocked the screen so she wouldn’t have to look at it anymore. She slid from her chair in one practical move, already pulling the blazer of her suit from the back of it. The woman decided she had waited long enough and that this whole anxiety wasn’t good to her mental state.

That was definitely something her psychologist would be proud of her for saying.

When she took a step forward, not looking up and ready to leave and go to her empty office to do some crazy CEO work, she wasn’t expecting to slam right into a brick wall. A sound, that she wasn’t exactly sure how she made, escaped from the back of her throat as her hands lifted almost immediately to hold herself and avoid a fall.

“Rao!” She heard from above her and brick walls can’t talk, right?

Lena looked up and she wasn’t sure if the air escaping her lungs had to do with the impact or if it was caused by the sight of Kara in front of her. She was quite the view, for sure, absolutely breathtaking standing there with blue slacks and a light blue button-up shirt, hair in a tight ponytail and black glasses. Lena was holding her biceps to keep herself up and Kara’s hands had found her waist and none of them moved an inch from their position.

The CEO swallowed hard the saliva that had reunited on her mouth before finding her voice. “Sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

“Are you okay?” Kara asked in a worried tone, eyes scanning Lena’s body to make sure she wasn’t hurt after hitting against the Girl of Steel. If her eyes linger a bit too much on Lena’s cleavage, no one said a thing. “Were you leaving?” Kara looked taken aback by the perspective of it, a deep frown forming on her beautiful forehead. “I know I’m late but I had to... deal with some things.”

The way her eyes flash to the sides like she’s scared someone might be hearing her made Lena realize that those _things_ might be related to the new hero National City had been presented to in the last month.

Lena wondered if there was any lie she could come up with that would be believable enough but she was still standing too close, she could fell Kara’s heat scaping her body, she could see every freckle on her nose and cheeks and different shades of blue in her eyes, and her mind couldn’t simply work the way it was supposed to.

Kara seemed to have that effect on her since the day they met.

“I thought you stood me up,” she admitted with a whisper, eyes moving from one blue eye to another like she couldn’t decide which one she should look at.

“I would never!” Kara replied firmly, and she sounded truly shocked that Lena would even think something like that. She was looking down at the brunette through those long eyelashes and Lena really couldn’t think of anything else.

She needed space. Now.

Lena took a step back and replaced her blazer back on the back of the chair, doing her best to gather as much air on her lungs as she could before she had to look at Kara again. She wondered, not for the first time, if Kara knew just how beautiful she was and what kind of effect she had on her.

Kara was already set when Lena took her seat again while clearing her throat and looking down at the table like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“You look great today,” the blonde declared suddenly, waving a hand at Lena. Then, she flinched at her own words. “Not that you don’t always look great!” She tried to correct as her cheeks went redder and redder by the second. “You’re always looking great! Perfect, even!” Kara forced her mouth to shut and she sighed heavily before pushing her glasses up her nose. “I’m sorry, I’m a little nervous.”

“Nervous?” Lena inquired curiously.

Kara nodded. “Yeah. I was nervous to meet you here. It just... brings memories, I guess.” She must have noticed how Lena’s face fell because she was quick to lean on the table, her eyes wide and in a mild panic. “I didn’t mean it like a bad thing or anything! I’m just saying that we – we just – we – “

Lena almost chuckled at the nervousness on her voice. Instead, she decided not to play the hypocrite there. “It’s okay, Kara. I was nervous too,” she admitted with a little tilt of her head. “You don’t have to, though. It’s just me.”

“Well, Lena,” Kara reached out across the table and the tip of her fingers brushed against Lena’s, “it’s just me, too.”

* * *

Lena had forgotten how it was like to sit in the presence of a warm, gentle, passionate, glorious, bright as the sun individual as Kara Danvers just sipping her coffee. She wasn’t sure how she could have forgotten the feeling of being in Kara’s presence but she wasn’t entirely prepared for the intense and unexpected feeling that it turned out to be.

She forgot how warm Kara’s blue eyes were, how Kara listened to her intently, how there was kindness in every word she spoke, how she cared about Lena’s passions and interests. She did think that the blue eyes flicking from her eyes to her mouth was a new thing, though. Lena didn’t remember it ever happening before or she didn’t notice it, at least. It was like Kara couldn’t control herself and it made Lena blush every time.

Lena wished it had been a date. That they had talked about it and declared it to be a date before she walked down Kara’s hallway outside her apartment to go back to her house.

When she walked inside her office, definitely late for her first meeting, Lena couldn’t stop smiling. And she didn’t stop smiling all day. Jess gave her some weird looks that could only mean she wanted to ask her questions but decided not to. Some of her staff decided to avoid her because, apparently, a smiling Luthor isn’t a good thing. But nothing broke her good mood.

In fact, Lena was still smiling when she heard a gentle tap against the glass behind her. Her pen stopped in the middle of her signature as she slowly turned her chair around, wondering what exactly could be hitting her glass fifty floors above the ground, but her breath immediately eased when she noticed Kara standing outside her balcony.

The blonde was holding a bag from the same Chinese restaurant they had ordered so many take-outs from before and she was using the same clothes Lena had saw her with earlier that day, even if she had two of the buttons open now. Lena, still smiling, got up from her chair and moved to open the door to allow her to get inside.

“Nice idea,” Kara commented as she took the first step forward. “The password.”

“Well,” Lena chanted as she closed the door and locked it again. “I have a bad historic of people invading my space.”

Instead of going sad or uncomfortable as Lena was expecting her to, Kara chuckled. “I support the security you installed. And,” she sang, raising the bag, “I brought dinner.”

“What are you even doing here?” Lena asked even if she was already walking to the coffee table she had placed in front of the couch. She pushed some magazines to the side to make some room for them before looking up. “It’s the middle of the night, you should be home.”

“Like you’re the one to talk,” Kara huffed and rolled her eyes, then she put the bag down on the table and set on the couch. “You’re the one still working late like usual.”

“How do you know I work until late most of the time?” Lena asked in genuine confusion but the blush on the blonde's cheek was enough of an answer to her.

So maybe Kara had thought about her during those five months just as much as she thought about Kara.

* * *

Supergirl saved her from an attack two days later.

They hadn’t seen each other since the shared dinner on Lena’s office and then someone tried to kill Lena during her opening speech at the Cancer Foundation Hospital event.

Lena had spotted Kara in the crowd of journalists the second she stepped behind the podium to speak. It was almost like her eyes were instantly attracted to her, not that the CEO could blame them for trying to find the sun at every opportunity they had.

She was in the middle of her inspiring speech when the man by her side - the man hired by her security team to protect her in case of an attack, the irony - turned around and punched her right in the face before she could even notice what was going on. Lena fell in the ground with the impact of the hit, one hand already raising to her jaw to ease the pain as the other one raised to protect herself from a second attack. She realized her hand wouldn’t protect her of nothing when she saw the shine of a gun on the man’s hand and the last thing she thought was “Luthor’s kill themselves, you jerk” before she puffed her chest and accepted her destiny.

The shot never came. Supergirl did. Lena was staring at the man and the end of his gun, then she blinked and he was gone.

She would see later in the pictures that kept popping up on the news and that were repeatedly printed on the newspapers how Supergirl had the man by his neck against a wall, how she broke his hand until he dropped the gun and how furious she looked while she fought an internal battle.

Lena didn’t have time to see none of that because, as soon as the man was out of her sight, someone was grabbing her arm and pulling her away, not giving a shit that her Vitton’s were dragging on the floor. They took her to the hospital, made several exams she never agreed on and then she was good to go.

No broken bones.

Just broken trust.

As always.

* * *

Lena wasn’t sure why she thought that the attempts against her life would be over now that her family was gone. With Lex buried twelve feet under the ground – and she made sure of it as the only person who attended his funeral – and Lillian in jail, she honestly to God thought her life would suffer fewer threats.

An almost deadly mistake, she found out.

She was still dealing with everything that happened, texting her psychologist back and fort, and trying to read the small letters on the prescription of the meds the doctor gave her, when there was a tap on her balcony door. She knew what to expect at that time, so she wasn’t that surprised to see Kara standing there.

She was surprised to see her using her super-suit. Winn had told her all about the suit over Game Night while she beat everyone else in Monopoly. How he designed it, the material it was made of, every hidden pocket, like he was a proud kid showing their parents their school project. Lena had only seen it over television but, now that it was right in front of her, she couldn’t deny that he was right to brag.

Adding the loose blonde hair and the puffed chest and Kara looked incredibly... sexy.

And Lena should not be thinking about that at all, she chastised herself as she let go of the medicine box to walk to the balcony so she could type out the password.

“Hey,” Kara greeted with a gentle smile and Lena was blushing before she even knew what was happening. “I wanted to check in on you, see if you were okay after what happened,” she explained after Lena gave her some room to walk in. “And I also brought dinner.”

The lines on Lena’s cheeks made an appearance when a soft smile turned the corner of her lips up and, for a second, it was like Kara couldn’t stop staring, her eyes tracing every outline of the CEO’s face like she was memorizing every dip, every crinkle. Until Lena winced in pain from the red angry mark on the right side of her jaw. She knew that, by the morning, it would probably be starting to turn blue, then it would become a dark purple, then it would go green and, finally, yellow until it disappeared completely in probably three weeks.

By then it just looked like she rubbed her face too hard in the shower but Kara didn’t seem happy about it either.

“Did you put ice on it?” the blonde asked as she took several steps closer.

Lena held her breath as warm hands touched her face, pushing gently to angle her upwards so she could take a better look. Kara’s eyebrows were furrowed deeply as she studied the bruise like it was a life-matter problem.

“I did,” she replied finally. “It looks a little better.”

It had gone unnoticed to her before but Kara had her practically pinned against the couch. The stupid white couch she took from the old apartment. Lena couldn’t be sure, and she wasn’t about to run the risk to look down, but she could almost feel Kara’s hipbones brushing against her stomach. That would already be enough to cause a heart attack or something, however, to top it, she can also feel the woman’s breath against her skin, fingers brushing oh so gently against her cheek, and Lena was sure she would pass out.

She didn’t pass out when she was punched but she was totally going to pass out because Kara was standing too close. Her body was a puzzle.

“You need to put more ice into it,” Kara commented like she wasn’t about to kill her right then and there in the middle of her living room.

All Lena could do was nod, slowly and almost distractedly, her breath caught up on her throat. “I will,” she promised with a whisper. To be fair, she wasn’t even sure what she was agreeing on.

Suddenly the world seemed to come to a halt when blue eyes met hers, bright and full of emotions. Lena wasn’t one for cliches, but she would swear for the rest of her life that it was the moment the gravity around her changed and she started to gravitate around Kara, like she was the sun and Lena was just another planet trying to get some of the heat.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough to protect you.”

“Kara-“

“No, let me say this,” Kara sighed and her eyes dropped like she was ashamed and Lena reached out for her arm before she could even understand what she was doing. At the contact, the blonde looked up with a little thankful smile. “When I became Supergirl I promised to protect every person in trouble who might need me, so it’s not just about you this time. I was there and I didn’t protect you from what could have been a very bad ending. I shouldn’t have gotten so distracted or I might have been able to see it coming.”

Lena shook her head. “Kara, it’s not your fault.”

“It might not be my fault, but I could have helped if I wasn’t too distracted looking at you. I will pay more attention in the future.” Lena wasn’t sure which one of them was blushing harder at Kara’s clear unintentional confession, but the taller woman kept talking before she could linger on the fact that she admitted to being distracted _by_ Lena. “I will never let anything like that happen to you ever again.”

“You can’t promise me that,” the CEO replied in a gentle tone, brushing her thumb against the soft material of the suit on Kara’s biceps.

“I stopped a plane from crashing using my bare hands, Lena,” Kara teased with a wink. “I think I can do whatever I want.”

“You had a very good motivation to hold that plane in the air, though,” she winked back in the same teasing tone. Lena had learned, during Game Night, that Alex was in the plane that Kara saved from falling and that was the only reason the woman ever exposed her powers. Because she needed to save her sister, she couldn’t bear the idea of letting Alex die when she could do something about it.

Not for the first time, after hearing that story, Lena tried to compare the relationship Kara and Alex had with the one she and Lex had. It was almost laughable to even try.

“And I have a tremendous good motivation now too,” Kara commented as her thumb ran softly on the forming bruise on Lena’s jaw, her eyes torn between angry, sad and determination. But then, for God’s sake, Kara smiled and Lena completely forgot what her brain was even trying to find an argument to. “I can hear your heartbeat.”

And then, because Lena could feel how hot her face went and how much faster her traitor heart started beating, she decided not to reply to that. Instead, she looked down between them and to the bag Kara was still holding, and gulped.

“I’m hungry,” she declared almost dumbly.

The chuckle Kara gave right into her ear should be considered illegal.

“Well, nice to meet you Hungry. I’m Kara.”

Lena looked up already forming a grimace at the same time the blonde laughed like she had just cracked the best joke anyone had ever heard. “Kara, I swear, if you’re going to make dad jokes-“

“The look of pure disappointment in your face,” Kara said between laughs, “was priceless!”

“Don’t make me laugh when I can’t laugh, you jerk.” Lena hit her shoulder with a closed fist and rolled her eyes as she took a very necessary step away. The moment her lungs couldn’t breathe Kara anymore, she felt like she might live through the night after all.

Kara said nothing as she followed Lena to the kitchen area so she could put the bag down and they could start serving dinner. Lena pushed the meds away, grabbed some plates and was about to offer Kara some wine when the electrical kettle went off behind her. She turned to make some tea like she had planned to do since she couldn’t drink alcohol and she was sticking with the no coffee at night rule.

“So, just to make sure I got this right: in those last few months, I went to therapy, went vegan, bought a new apartment and became a CEO. And you moved to National City, found your apartment, started a job, became a superhero and bought a dad jokes’ book?”

“No book and no dad, just good ol’ me,” Kara shook her head excitedly.

Lena rolled her eyes while making her way back to the table with a second cup to Kara. “Okay, hit me with another one then, Comedy Genius.”

“This one made Winn laugh for two days, it’s made for the nerds,” Kara declared as she squirmed on her chair like she was actually about to say the most important words she ever said before. “Don’t trust atoms, they make up everything.”

To her credit, Lena lasted good five seconds without cracking a reaction. It started as a small grin at first, the corner of her lips twitching as she fought it, but then she took in the look on Kara’s face, the big smile, and the bright eyes, and she just lost it. The brunette chuckled and shook her head, reaching inside the bag to take out the boxes of food.

“God, I missed you.” The words weren’t meant to be spoken out loud but that didn’t mean they were less true.

However, that seemed to sober Kara a little bit. Her smile seemed frozen in place but a pensive look fell on her face just like the silence sank over them. Lena let her sort out her thoughts by herself while she served them food and waited patiently for Kara to talk. Which happened almost two minutes later.

"We should start over. Right this time, without crazy brothers and evil plots," Kara declared gently, watching Lena's reactions closely.

The CEO nodded. "Sorry about the crazy brother doing evil plots, by the way."

"None of this! If we're starting over, you need to stop apologizing for something that isn't even your fault," the blonde frowned. "You did good, that's all that matters. And if we want this to work, we have to leave Lex in the pass."

Lena's eyes swept over her face for several seconds, a kind smile slowly turning her lips up, until she was expressing her feeling with deep green eyes. "Okay, no more Lex," she agreed. "What do you suggest we do now?"

"Well, Ms. Luthor, I think I know this awesome ice cream shop two blocks from CatCo and I know they have vegan ice cream because I asked them when I went there with Nia yesterday. I think we should stop by."

The fact that Kara not only accepted that information of her going vegan so easily but also was instantly adding that into her plans made Lena’s heart swell.

"Oh, really?" Lena quirked one eyebrow in amusement. "And am I supposed to skip a day of work and go?"

"Ideally, yes!" The blonde nodded furiously. "But the CEO of a billionaire company can't leave everything behind to eat _ice cream_ , so I'm fine with us meeting there on Saturday."

"Saturday it is."

* * *

Saturday couldn't come fast enough and, at the same time, slowly enough.

They had met several times by now, but the prospect of seeing Kara outside those safe environments made her nervous. Like, truly nervous. Like, Lena almost shit her pants twice on the way.

But it was just ice cream. That's it. No biggie.

"What are you going to get?"

Just ice cream between two friends who already fucked and were in love and probably still were, but no big deal at all.

"The blackberry one," Lena replied after a moment of consideration. Not over the ice cream. At. All. "I remember eating this flavor when I was a child, so it's going to be interesting to try the vegan version of it. You?"

"Cookie dough!"

"Of course. I'm not even surprised." Lena rolled her eyes as she turned her body to face Kara.

"Well, I'm sorry, Ms. Ice Cream Police, but some of us actually like ice cream and not some weird way to eat fruits," Kara teased her and placed both hands against her hips like she was trying to look mad.

Lena took a step forward when the line moved and Kara eagerly followed her with a large smile. "Stop judging my eating habits, you bully. You didn't even try it."

"It's frozen fruit."

"You will try mine," Lena used her elbow to playfully shove Kara, digging into her ribs while the blonde laughed loudly.

"Rao, woman, what have I done to you?! Why are you trying to punish me?" At that, Kara gasped as she had just got offended, placing a hand against her chest and blinking her long eyelashes at Lena.

The CEO said nothing as she approached the counter to order and Kara waited quietly for her to finish before telling the lady her own. Double chocolate cookie dough with extra topping and sprinkles, to which Lena crinkled her nose at. Kara pulled the money from her wallet before and paid before Lena could even think about it, offering a smile to the lady behind the register as she did her best to ignore the woman by her side glaring indignantly at her.

Once they were handed their cones, Lena followed the blonde as she led the way. The ice cream shop itself wasn't packed or anything, but Kara took them to a bench a few feet from the store. They set down, side by side, and Lena realized for the first time that it was maybe a bit too cold to be eating ice cream, especially outside in the open.

The wind hit her cheeks and a shiver ran down her arms and legs in a weak attempt to keep the warmth of her body, and she thought she might freeze to death once she started eating the ice cream. Bu then Kara moved a tiny bit closer and their arms brushed, and it was like she was just touched by the sun itself. The light touch caused her whole body to burn and combust.

"Here," she said when it became clear she needed a distraction and then pushed the cone in Kara's face, almost hitting her nose with the scoop, "try it."

The blonde eyed the slight purple ice cream with a little suspicious look on her face, like it might actually jump from the cone and attack her somehow, and Lena rolled her eyes again. She shoved the ice cream closer to Kara’s lips and the blonde realized she didn’t have a choice on the matter. She leaned forward as the tip of her tongue stuck from between her lips, and then it swept across the ice cream, gathering the artificial blackberry flavor.

After swallowing, her eyes moved up to Lena’s hopeful smile. “It’s good,” she affirmed with a nod. “But it’s not cookie dough.” To make her point, she took a large bite of her ice cream without considering that she might freeze to death too.

“Of course it isn’t,” Lena agreed with a scoff. “It’s much better.”

Kara paused in the middle of another bite, eyes turning back to stare at Lena like she went insane suddenly, ready to snark back a comment. However, as soon as her gaze met the other woman, her brain went blank. There was a speck of ice cream running down Lena’s bottom lip, the side that wasn’t sporting a sickening purple-colored bruise, and Kara didn’t think twice before reaching out to sweep it away with her thumb.

Lena stalled like a car hitting a wall when she felt the blonde’s soft skin against hers and Kara immediately pulled away, cleaning her finger on her black slacks, not even carrying if it got dirty or anything.

“Sorry, that was weird,” she whispered as a dark blush colored her cheeks.

“It’s fine,” Lena replied in a gentle tone, smiling sheepishly as she took another bite of her ice cream.

They stay in silence for a couple of minutes, until Kara’s cone is long gone and Lena is just finishing hers, and maybe the blonde stayed there too long without doing anything and her brain got idle because, before she knew what was going on, she was staring at the side of Lena’s face and talking.

“I missed you too.”

Her eyes immediately scanned Lena’s face after some sort of reaction. What she saw was a small smile, a shy look, a light blush and a minor leaning against her side. Then she was acting without thinking again, reaching out for her hand and linking their fingers, and maybe she was in trouble because she thought she never wants to let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: Let's go out to have coffee, then I will bring you dinner, then we can have more dinner, then we can go eat ice cream and seat on a bench and talk!  
> Lena: ... Like, as friends or as friends friends?  
> Kara: ... Please, don't make me go through this again


	23. For the prize of some love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some sexy times ahead!  
> Also, this has only one chapter left that I will be posting tomorrow.

It only drowns to Lena they had a date when Sam pointed it out.

“How are the odds you actually managed to have a perfect first date? Everyone’s first date sucks and you just have to go and ruin it for everybody.”

So maybe Lena spent the first twenty minutes of their conference talking about how she spent her Saturday afternoon with Kara, but it was totally her friend’s fault for asking in the first place.

“Although considering you two were already married, it’s not much of a surprise.”

At that, Lena rolled her eyes. “We weren’t married.”

“Almost married, whatever,” Sam waved one hand to dismiss the subject and looked down at the papers in her desk. “So, Tokyo.”

She got a text in the middle of her call with Sam and it takes every ounce of self-control not to look at it because she just knew it was from Kara. She put a different ringtone to her, sue her. As soon as they turned off the call, though, she picked up her phone.

_‘I loved spending time with you yesterday.’_

Lena smiled brightly, ignoring how bad her jaw hurt with the movement. _‘So did I.’_

_‘What are you doing today?’_

_‘Just ended a call with Sam.’_

_‘Please tell me you’re not working on a Sunday, Lena Luthor!’_

She was smiling like a schoolgirl with a crush, she knew that. She also didn’t give a fuck.

_‘Okay, I won’t.’_

_‘Lena! Rao! Why don’t you come over and we can have real Sunday fun?’_

Lena had no idea what ‘Sunday fun’ was but she certainly wanted to find out so she texted a quick ‘be right there’ and ran to change from her pajamas.

* * *

That was totally not what she thought Kara had in mind.

Mario Kart.

Absolutely not what Lena thought she would be doing when she left her penthouse, neither when Kara opened her own door for her to walk inside her loft.

“I’m not very good at this,” Lena declared when Kara put a control on her hands and set her down on the couch.

Her eyes watched as the blonde turned the videogame on and made her way to sit beside Lena on the couch, gazing at her large black sweatpants and the oversized National City’s University t-shirt. It made her remind of her Oxford hoodie and how much Kara seemed to love that single piece of clothing she had, and she tried not to think that was the exact reason she decided to use it to go to the woman’s house that day.

But it totally was.

“All you need to do is practice,” Kara replied with a smile as she plopped herself down, legs tugging beneath her. Lena could feel Kara’s knee brushing against her and she tried not to dwell too much into that. The blonde clicked a few buttons and then she looked at her with expectant eyes. “Pick a character,” she guided.

For a brief moment, Lena’s eyes got stuck on the accentuated muscles and curves the black tight shirt was showing off just right and then she had to take a deep breath to collect her thoughts. She pressed a button without thinking about it and then waited for Kara to do the same.

“You never played it before?” Kara inquired as the game loaded.

“Once,” Lena scoffed. “I think I was eight or nine and I found Lex’s old Nintendo. Worse experience ever.”

“Do you want to do something else?” the blonde asked between soft chuckles.

“Not at all!” Lena shook her head and tilted her head to the side so she could offer her a smile. “You will just have to teach me.”

She knew it was the right choice because, not even a second later, Kara moved closer to her, basically hovering over her shoulder so she could lean and point at stuff while explaining to Lena how the mechanics worked. Before she could get too far after she was done, Lena reached out and curled her fingers around her wrist.

“Stay. I’m not sure I got it.”

“Of course!” Kara replied instantly without missing a single beat.

Soft satisfied smile in place, Lena tried not to stare as Kara moved the cushions on the couch so she would be comfortable sitting there with her.

And maybe she’s a liar. Lena knows exactly how to play Mario Kart. She played every version of the game that ever existed before; she had a Nintendo Switch that she took with her on her travels and even on the long drives across the city and the only game she had was Mario Kart. If Kara had put any other game on, she might not have been able to do it, but she knew Mario like the back of her hand.

But she was going on with the white lie if that meant she could have Kara’s body pressed against her side. However, as soon as the game started, her competitive side made an appearance and she totally forgot she was supposed not to know how to play. At the end of the first race, to which Lena came in first, she turned with the smuggest look on her face and gazed straight into the awe displayed in the face of the woman sitting by her side.

“Look at that, you won!” Kara exclaimed, sounding nothing like she might be sad or sore for have lost. In fact, she sounded as happy as she had won. “You’re a fast learner.”

“Or maybe you’re just a very good teacher,” the brunette replied with a wink.

Kara’s face flushed and her hand raised to push her glasses up her nose. “Or maybe you’re just a liar.”

Lena gasped. “I am not!”

“You so are!” Kara laughed loudly, shoving the brunette’s shoulder playfully. “You totally knew how to play this game!”

She hesitated for a second because she didn’t want to lie at Kara’s face so openly like that, even if it was a minor lie. Finally, Lena sighed. “Fine, yes, I knew how to play it.”

“I’m so glad we didn’t bet or anything,” the blonde laughed again, shaking her head and pushing the woman’s knees with her hand. “I don’t care, as long as you don’t lie to me if we decide to play Just Dance.”

“Oh, no, I definitely can’t dance!”

Kara eyes her with just a little suspicious for a couple of seconds before accepting her dismiss and smiling again. “Want to play one more time?”

“Sure!”

“Let me just make us some popcorn first. I’m hungry.”

“Nice to meet you.” Lena would forever deny she ever made that joke but the look on the other woman’s face was invaluable. “What? You taught me that one.”

“I sure did,” and Kara certainly looked proud about it too as she walked to her kitchen nodding to herself.

When Kara returned, holding a bag filled with mouth-watering popcorn, Lena smirked and leaned back against the couch so the blonde could drop the thing on her lap, which she did. The blonde had her mouth stuffed with popcorn to the point her cheeks were puffed and she could barely breathe around it and that’s when Lena lost all inhibitions.

Because Kara looked ridiculous and Lena was still in love with her.

“Is this a date?” she muttered.

For a moment, she almost thought Kara was about to get up and leave her own apartment considering how weirded out she looked, and Lena already set her head and her heart for disappointment.

“If you want it to be,” Kara finally answered with a shrug, clearly trying to look much cooler about it than she truly was.

“It’s good to know,” Lena teased a second later, loving the way the blonde’s cheeks turned pink. “I only allow the second base on the third date. But you already hit end zone anyway.” When did Lena ever watch baseball to start with?

Oh yeah, it was around the time Kara said her father used to watch it with her after she got on Earth. She was such a sucker.

“Okay,” the taller woman muffled a laugh with a cough, making it sound not only timid but also awkward.

Lena could have teased her about her shyness to talk about sex again, she could make another sexual comment just to see her blushing one more time, or she could make another comment on her boobs, but her thoughts drifted somewhere else suddenly. She had something inside her mind for months now, something she really wanted to do, and Lena gulped loudly before gathering the courage to do it.

She leaned over, breath fast and hard, heart beating like crazy, and her lips touched on the corner of Kara’s mouth. The blonde turned her head as well and then, suddenly, they were kissing again after months of nothing of _that_. It didn’t escape her the irony that their second first kiss was also on a couch, but she also didn’t mind at all because the place meant nothing if it was Kara’s lips she was kissing.

The pad of Kara’s finger came to smooth the skin under her bottom lip in a soft caress and Lena didn’t think twice before hooking one hand on the back of the woman’s neck. A tongue flipping across her lips caused a quiet gasp at her and it also served as an invitation.

Lena had missed the touch of Kara’s tongue against hers, she realized, but, at the same time, it was refreshing. Like it was something she never tried before, completely new and different, yet so familiar all the same. The warmth spreading over her chest caused her to smile in the middle of their kiss and Kara slowed down until their lips were just lazily moving together again.

The brunette was the one who pulled back, the need for air becoming too much, and two of her fingers wrapped around a curl of blonde hair. “Wow,” she breathed.

Kara chuckled and raised her chin until she could press a kiss on Lena’s forehead. It was only then that it draws to her what an awkward position they were to be kissing, sitting side by side cross-legged on Kara’s small couch, but she wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the whole world.

“You’re perfect,” Kara mumbled against the skin of her forehead before lowering her eyes again so she could meet green ones.

This time, Lena let the control fall from her grasp when she leaned over for another kiss. She was sure they would do that a lot from now on.

* * *

“What are you going to do in two weeks from now?” Kara asked while they ate the breakfast Lena made them on the blonde’s small kitchen. She slept there, on her loft, as it had become common in the last three weeks. They hadn’t slept together again, but they shared Kara’s bed all those times the heroine insisted it was too late for Lena to go back to her apartment.

Lena hummed from the back of her throat as she thought about it and about the word she needed to write down on her crossword. “Nothing that I remember of. Why?”

“Christmas is coming.”

She said it so nonchalantly that the words took several seconds to sink on Lena’s brain. Finally, she looked up with a frown curling her brows. “What?”

“Yep,” Kara nodded, mouth stuffed with eggs. “You know, the Holiday every Christian celebrates and all. I celebrate food.”

Lena scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Wow, Jesus would be so happy to hear it.”

“I can solve my problems with Rao, he will understand me.” The journalist looked up to wink at her and shrugged shortly after. “Anyway, mom invited us to go back to her house.”

“Am I your plus one? My, Ms. Danvers, are you asking me on a date?” Lena teased as she hid her smile behind her mug.

Kara didn’t mind hiding her own reaction to the light tease. “My, Ms. Luthor, you could already be my wife by now. Plus one is just the cherry on top.”

The reality of her words hit Lena a bit too hard and she lowered her mug slowly back to the table. Kara’s smile faltered as she watched Lena’s reaction, knowing the woman still had a lot of demons concerning their unusual start. Finally, the CEO nodded.

“It could be, yes. But I would never make a wedding during any holiday,” she replied with a smirk that said ‘it’s okay, I’m okay, we’re okay’.

Kara hummed as she got up to put her empty plate on the sink, relieved to see that her little joke didn’t break the mood for them. “So, do we have plans for Christmas?”

“I already have plans,” the CEO replied quickly.

Frowning, the blonde turned to look at her. “You do?”

“Yes,” the woman nodded, her face as serious as it could get. “I have to take the nine reindeers I keep in the garage and go deliver some presents to the kids around the world.”

Kara’s smile was so bright that Lena almost thought she could go blind. “Did you just cracked a spontaneous joke?”

“I’m full of surprises, I would like you to know that.” Her grin this time was smug as she pulled the newspaper back to herself.

“I’m sure you are,” Kara mumbled while pressing a kiss on top of her head. “And the word you’re looking for is ‘ _sea’_.” She pointed at the three empty spots on Lena’s crossword and smiled.

And, as Lena filled the spaces, she thought: _It sure is_.

* * *

Kara didn’t tell her that spending Christmas with the Danvers involved using a thematic Holiday sweater. Neither that she would feel like she had a family for the first time in her life.

As soon as she walked through the door, she was assaulted with the smell of cookies and eggnog, both things she loved so she was totally fine with it. Eliza pulled Kara into a tight hug, squeezing her as hard as she could, and the loving smile on her face almost made Lena want to look away.

“It’s so good you could make it, Kara,” the woman whispered as she pressed a kiss on Kara’s cheek.

Then she leaned back, holding the woman by her shoulders, and gave her one of those mom-smiles that Lena never had directed at her but that she had seen numerous times before. She couldn’t see Kara’s face, however, she was willing to bet she was also gazing at Eliza like she was the best mom in the world.

“You promised me chocolate pecan pie, of course, I would come.”

Eliza rolled her eyes fondly, not an ounce of annoyance on her features as she turned to face Lena without losing her grip on her adoptive daughter. “Look what you did, Lena. She wouldn’t stop talking about this chocolate pecan pie forever.”

Lena wasn’t expecting the warm welcome, although she was told to expect exactly that, so she only blushed and offered a shy smile in return. The older woman wasn’t even looking at her anymore, rather staring at her daughter again.

“I got us sweaters from all different colors this year.”

“Yes!” Kara shouted while fist-bumping the air and the CEO watched as both blondes shared an excited laugh.

Then Eliza turned around to pull something from the coat tree and Lena realized they hadn’t moved from the door yet and the cold from outside was chilling her bones a little bit. What the matriarch of the Danvers’ family offered to her daughter was a sweater, like she had hinted it to be. The garment was a dark shade of blue, with snowflakes from different sizes draw in white on the sleeves and a reindeer on the front. Not any reindeer, it was using sunglasses and a yellow scarf, and Lena had to gather all her strength not to purse her lips at it.

Because Kara looked at it like it was the most precious thing in the world and she immediately pulled the thing over her head. To be honest, it looked a little better on Kara. But it was still very ridiculous.

“I got one for you as well, Lena.”

Lena’s eyes slowly moved from Kara’s torso to the older blonde standing in front of them holding a second sweater and she bit the inside of her cheek. It was a green elf sweater. It had a black belt around the waist area and fake white collar, and it looked like an elves’ uniform would look like. There was no way in Hell anyone would see Lena wearing that.

“We have a tradition,” Kara explained suddenly, taking the vegan turkey from Lena’s hand so she could take the sweater. “Everyone in the family has to use one.”

So there was a way in Hell people would see her wearing that ugly Christmas sweater. Because, apparently, she was family now. And she was totally fine with it.

And she felt a little better when Alex and Maggie also got there and they also had to wear some pretty ridiculous sweaters.

* * *

Kara kept looking down as she fumbled with her tie. She had borrowed it from Maggie and it was different doing it on herself but her soon to be sister-in-law had taught her how to do this before she left. The detective had smiled at her, patted her shoulder and said she looked great for a fancy New Years Ball. The tie was thin, dark grey, a color that Lena probably knew the name for, but that Kara couldn’t care less about.

She bit her bottom lip when she let go of her tie to fiddle with the buttons of her sleeve. She bought that shirt with Alex after she started her new life and needed an entirely new wardrobe to go with it – it was a proper shirt that costed a freaking fortune but that made her look fine while wearing it. It was light blue and it hugged her torso perfectly, and it made a perfect match with her very dark grey slacks, that she was still trying to get used to the cut.

The door finally opened in front of her and Kara’s eyes snapped up. She could see that Lena barely paid any attention to her as she had already turned around to gather her things around the bathroom counter while trying to put an earring on. She could see the muscles of her shoulders from her backless black dress, her dark curls were done up neatly, and her shoes were missing.

“Sorry, I just need to get my shoes,” Lena said as she slid barefoot through the bathroom and then the room.

It took her a second to turn back around, wide eyes, and Kara didn’t even try to hide the smirk from her face when she noticed Lena taking everything in. Green eyes fell to her tie but didn’t stay there much longer before they trailed down her torso, burning a trail down. The pants were a perfect fit, Kara had made sure of it.

By the way Lena’s face flushed and her lips parted, she knew it was a welcome choice.

“Kara, we-” Lena swallowed and the hand that had just plopped the earring in fell to her side, “-we need to leave soon.”

Kara shrugged, trying not to look too cocky. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tried to push away her selfconsciousness and uncertain “You look gorgeous,” she said as she took quick steps towards the woman. “As always.”

“Thank you,” Lena’s voice was barely a whisper as her eyelids flickered a couple of times when the back of Kara’s hand caressed her left cheek. The hand remained there for a second before it started making the way down her collarbone and she was never more thankful for a strapless dress. “You look good also.”

Kara chuckled softly, the sound sending shivers up and down the brunette’s spine before she licked her lips and bent to kiss the other woman. “I had to improvise because someone invited me in the last minute.”

Lena bit her lip thoughtfully and it was time for Kara to shudder. “It doesn’t look like it,” she whispered in a breath.

Kara could feel her toned body underneath the silk as she bent, wrapping her arms around her. She wasn’t thinking anything beyond the fact that the dress would for sure wrinkle when she moved forward until Lena’s back was pressed against the wall right beside the closet. Her hands moved to the back of her thighs and, in one single move, began to push the black dress up the CEO’s leg.

They had been toying around it for too long. Since Christmas, when they shared Kara’s childhood bed, the sexual tension between them got so thick and suffocating that it had started manifesting and overflowing like water in a full bucket. Lena would never be ashamed to confess the handy on the car back home. Neither she would shy away from the blow jobs on the couch or how loud she moaned when Kara went down on her.

So neither of them were surprised that it had finally burst that night. Not at all.

“Kara...” It wasn’t a complaint or a protest or a request to stop. Lena’s voice was already filled with desire as she wrapped her legs around Kara’s waist, pulling her close. Lena arched her back forward, trying to find friction, more contact, more skin, more Kara. Finally, she managed to press herself into hard heat and moaned. “We got all dressed up...” Lena said, her lips only a brush away from Kara’s.

Kara groaned against her, eyes scanning her face, hands moving down her body. “It must be a very expensive dress,” commented her. “We should maybe...” her suggestion was cut off abruptly as Lena’s lips claimed hers, but she wasn’t about to complain either.

Lena slipped her hands between their bodies and hooked her fingers through her belt loops to pull her hips closer and her pants down at the same time. Kara’s lips started to go down her jaw to nip at her neck a second later. She was leaving a mark and Lena loved her for it.

Suddenly Kara could feel Lena’s heat against her and everything felt too tight. She dropped one hand and began to unbutton her trousers, causing Lena’s breath to hitch when she heard the zipper slowly going down. The blonde took her cock out, fingers stroking it gently as she looked down at herself, at Lena’s pale long legs, the wrinkled dress. Kara groaned as she suddenly picked Lena up, the tip of her dick brushing against her center and causing moans to slip both of their lips, and she considered what she should do now that she had Lena up on her arms and out of the wall.

“Kara,” Lena’s voice made her look up and distracted her from her thoughts. The CEO’s palm was flat against her chest for a second before she started working on her tie, undoing it with fast skilled fingers. It made Kara shudder and her hands dug into the brunette’s legs almost painfully. “Your tie is crooked,” teased the woman with a smirk and a wink.

That was it. The glint in the green eyes and the half-smile made it for her. Kara could think about one thing and one thing only when she kneeled on the bed with no trouble at all, like she wasn’t holding a grown woman on her lap. Lena wanted Kara so badly, so desperately, that she didn’t even felt when her back hit the mattress hard, she barely felt anything but Kara’s blonde hair tickling her face.

Once she felt Lena under her, pulling her closer, tugging at her clothes and digging her nails at her shoulders, Kara moaned loudly. She felt almost overwhelmed by all of it.

“Condom?” she mumbled around the spot on Lena’s neck she was trying so hard not to bruise too hard.

Lena groaned, moaned, gasped and moved her hips in harmony with Kara, allowing the thick head of her cock to brush against her clit just the right way. “Fuck it.”

“Lena-“

“I haven’t slept with anyone since you,” Lena confessed quietly.

Even if Kara knew that the reaction was coming from a very primitive part of her brain, she couldn’t help but groan happily at the thought of no one else touching Lena like that. She could feel bad for thinking like that later because now she had more urgent concerns, like the woman underneath her. The superhero leaned in and kissed Lena again as she guided the tip of her cock into Lena and thrust forward, moaning at how easy it was, how wet the other woman was so that she found no resistance at all.

It was almost too much and she reached to put her hands on the bed on either side of Lena, steadying herself at the moment. She needed to remember herself that Lena was breakable, that she could and she would hurt the woman if she didn’t take enough care with her movements. Too soon, she heard the brunette moaning under her and her hands moving to her hips, encouraging her.

“Lena, Rao...”

Lena’s touch was almost frantic as she tried to pull her closer, deeper. She cut Kara’s protests by pulling her into a hard heated kiss as she gripped her hips, pulling her down even closer until there was no space left between their bodies. When her breath caught on the back of her throat and she couldn’t hold the kisses anymore, she began to nip at Kara’s neck, moving to her collarbones and shoulders as she made clear efforts to mark her, even if she knew she wouldn’t be able to.

As she heard Lena grow incoherent underneath her, Kara cursed under her breath and squinted her eyes close. She hadn’t expected this. She hadn’t expected Lena to be so... aroused by a set of clothing. She hadn't expected Lena to act so wild, to feel her teeth sinking into her skin or her nails digging into her hips through the shirt. Rao, they hadn’t even removed their clothes.

It was driving her crazy, it was making her enter the same frenzy that Lena was locked in. It couldn’t be safe, she thought for a second, but then their eyes locked and she was gone again. One of her hands gripped a smooth thigh roughly and she pulled it away from her waist and down to Lena’s torso. The CEO’s eye went wide and her breath caught on her throat for what felt like forever when she felt Kara filling her completely.

Their eyes were still locked when her body started to shake and her back arched, writhing under the blonde as she moaned louder and louder. She had the presence of mind to slip one hand from Kara’s hip down between their bodies to find her own clit and she almost yelped to the first touch.

Kara closed her eyes, consumed by everything that was Lena. Her moans, her heated skin, her smell, her slick center. Lena barely had time to pull Kara for another kiss before her body started to shake uncontrollably with her orgasm. She tightened both of her legs around the blonde’s hips, forcing her to stay still as her mouth swallowed all of her moans and groans of pleasure.

“Rao,” Kara moaned deeply against her ear when she felt herself tighten. She pulled out fast, pumping her cock, and she came a second later, painting Lena’s pale thighs and the ends of her black dress with white thick come.

“When I asked you what dress you wanted me to use tonight,” Lena started breathlessly after Kara dropped herself by her side so they could both catch their breaths, “all you had to say was ‘the red one’ instead of ruining the one I chose.”

Kara huffed a chuckle. “We’re going to be late.”

“Darling, we’re not even going.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: I love love you  
> Lena: That's good because I love love you too


	24. The one where everything is just nice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is officially the last chapter of this fic.  
> I have to say that I HATE writing multi-chapter fics but, if I wanted to give this story any credit, I knew I would have to do it. It had been a ride, it was crazy at some points, but I can say I'm truly satisfied with the final result.  
> For everyone who tagged along, thank you so much! For everyone who left me a nice comment, a good feedback, or just kind words, I appreciated every single one of them. For who is yet to come, welcome, you're not too late for the party and I would love to have you!  
> Anyway, let me know your opinions about the whole work once you finish reading it!

“Okay, be honest,” Lena asked as she turned around to face her best friend. “How do I look?”

Sam made a quick scan of her friend’s outfit, slowly quirking one eyebrow at the formal wear. The black three pieces suit and the white shirt beneath it just screamed wedding. Or James Bond. Either way, Lena looked great. So she told her that.

“Are you sure?” Lena looked back to the mirror as she tried to smooth down the crinkles only her could see on her collar. “Should I put a tie?”

Sam did the best she could to hold back an eye-roll as she drank her white wine in one gulp, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and exchanging a look with her daughter, who was sitting on the comfortable armchair by the corner. “What do you think, Ruby? Should auntie Lena put a tie?”

The thirteen years old girl chuckled, clearly not sporting the same self-control her mother had, and lifted her index finger to tap her chin. “Isn’t it a little late to ask that? Where would we find a tie now?”

“You should look on Mon-El’s closet,” they all turned around to see Nia entering the room with a large smile. “He’s wearing a flowered green tie, he certainly has good taste.”

Lena couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it and everyone soon joined her to it. She liked Nia, the girl had become part of their group in the last months and she had proved to be a light breeze on their shenanigans. And she liked her even more if she was going to make fun of Mon-El.

“And no tie is needed here!” Nia declared firmly after everyone recovered from their laughs. “You’re already looking great!”

Lena blushed, eyes still going up and down her own body as she tried to find the same beauty her friends tried to convince her off. She wasn’t usually so doubtful of her looks. Lena knew she was pretty and that she could pull out almost any look, the gaze of numerous men and women told her so all her life. Her insecurities were usually related to emotional reasons, but that was an important day and she couldn’t help but feel a little uncertain about her wardrobe choices.

“Seriously, Lena,” Sam said, a bit more gently as she placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “You’re looking as good as a peach.”

The CEO rolled her eyes and shoved her friend’s hand from her body. “Get out.”

Mother and daughter shared a laugh while Lena stepped away from the mirror and moved to grab the buttonhole she would be wearing. “If that makes you feel better, I already saw Kara,” Nia chanted as she changed her wait from her toes to her heels several times.

That caught Lena’s interest and she turned to look at the young woman with a soft smile that no one else had the luck to get but Kara. “And how does she look?”

“Amazing,” Nia replied, moving her hands in front of her face.

“The dress?” Sam inquired.

“Perfect,” the reporter did a chef’s kiss gesture towards Ruby and the girl laughed again. “It matches Lena’s suit, for sure,” Nia added with a certain nod.

And then Sam scoffed, breaking all the magic built inside Lena’s head. “You mean that we won’t know if they’re the bridesmaids or the secret agents? Either way, they will be looking great, I’m sure.”

“Okay, first of all, I didn’t choose this,” Lena started, waving one hand down her body. “Maggie was in charge of the suits.”

“Why am I not surprised?” The taller woman mumbled under her breath as she took a step closer to straighten the buttonhole. “Well, it’s her wedding.”

“And you should be glad to be here,” Lena rolled her eyes. “You met them _once_ in my apartment.”

Sam shrugged. “We all know Alex wanted to invite Ruby because they got along so well, but since she’s still a minor...” She threw a wink at her daughter, who snapped her fingers back at her and Lena had to smile at them.

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock on the door and Winn’s head peered in with a smile. “Everyone ready, ladies?”

Nia wasn’t lying at all, Lena had to admit as she watched the girl joining Brainy at the front rolls. Brainy was a newcomer on the team, he was still new and had been around for only three weeks, but the team had already embraced him and Lena was glad to have another technology nerd around.

The point is that Nia didn’t lie when she said Kara looked perfect on her dress. She did lie about them matching, though. Lena almost laughed at that while she and Kara walked to their assigned places. Kara was wearing a ruffled v-neckline dress, with cold-shoulder sleeves held by a thin strap, and the soft material embraced her breasts and fell over her hips perfectly, the light rosewood color matching her skin in a way that stole Lena’s breath away.

Alex, for sure, did a better job with the dresses. Eliza was wearing a similar model of her youngest daughter’s dress, without the cold shoulder sleeves and in a darker tone, while Lena could see J’onn and Winn wearing the same type of suit she was wearing. It was their idea, that Alex would get the dresses and Maggie would get the suits and no one was supposed to look before it was time, and Lena thought it was somehow cute.

It sure added the element of surprise, especially when she thought she was going to cry when she saw Kara walking towards her so they could make their way to the chairs for the bridesmaids together. And that wasn’t even _their_ wedding.

Lena didn’t cry during the ceremony but Kara did and she slid her hand on her girlfriend’s thigh over the chiffon and tried to catch her eye in reassurance. The blonde only smiled at her and accepted the handkerchief Lena pulled out of the internal pocket of her suit – it had it’s perks, she had to admit - then she leaned on Lena’s side and kept watching as her big sister got married to the love of her life.

Lena had asked her if it was weird that Alex and Maggie chose the anniversary of the day they met, on the fateful meeting her dear brother hosted, to get married, but Kara said it would only be weird if they made it weird. So Lena decided not to make it weird by not thinking about it. However, as J’onn went on and on about love, and about how much Alex and Maggie loved each other and so many other things she didn’t even know what it was about, she couldn’t help her mind to go around a little.

Kara must have sensed she got distracted because she nudged her side gently and turned her head so her lips were brushing against her ear. “What are you thinking about?”

The brunette smiled, turning her head to the side so she could brush her nose on Kara’s temple. She kept her voice low and her tone light when she whispered her reply: “I’m thinking that I’m going to marry you one of these days.”

Kara’s hand flew to her knee out of instinct as she gasped a bit too loud. She leaned back so she could look at Lena’s face, blue eyes scanning her expression after any type of doubt or of a prank on her. When she found nothing but honesty and love, tears started flooding from the corner of her eyes again and her face broke into a large smile, the dimples showing up, the corner of her eyes crinkling and the small mark on her left cheek making an appearance.

And Lena was completely in love all over again.

“You better keep that promise, Ms. Luthor,” Kara whispered, the words cracking a little thanks to the lump on her throat. “You still own me a ring.”

“I will give you the _best_ ring.”

Sam leaned from somewhere behind her with a scoff. “Maybe you should give Alex her ring first, you know.”

When Kara looked up, she saw that J’onn was, indeed, waiting for her to go over and bring them the ring so they could move on to the vows. She jumped from the chair, face heating up, as she rushed to give her sister the red box. Surprisingly, Alex didn’t even care because she couldn’t take her eyes from the woman standing in front of her.

* * *

It was the cold that woke her up, Kara realized. The breeze hitting her back and the empty space by her side on the bed, that was what pulled her from her dreamlands. And it was a fairly good dream.

She slipped out of the bed with a sigh and a yawn before she started to wander around the apartment barefoot. Lena wasn’t in the bathroom, which was her first presumption, but she couldn’t have gone that far so she kept walking. It was a big penthouse but it wasn’t infinite, after all.

Kara threw a glance at the guest room, thinking that maybe Lena couldn’t sleep and decided to go read there so she wouldn’t wake her up, but the room was empty. She looked at the hallway bathroom just to be sure, but that also came up empty. The kitchen was next but, taking the light shine from the microwave and the fridge, there was nothing else there, so she moved on to the living room. Also empty, but a passing glance out to the balcony door, though, grabbed her attention and she finally smiled.

Lena had her forearms propped on the upper railing and one leg on the lower one while she looked over at the city they both learned to love despite the rough start. The night was dark, the breeze was cold, there weren’t many stars in the sky and Kara was almost sure it would rain before the sunrise, but the younger woman was wearing only a tank top and old basketball shorts that belonged to Kara.

The blonde smiled and hurried as she opened the door and walked into the night, making sure she was making enough noise so she wouldn’t startle the other woman. Even so, Lena didn’t seem to notice her until Kara circled her arms around her middle.

“Hey,” Kara breathed.

“Hey.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Just thinking,” Lena replied with a sigh.

Kara leaned down and placed a warm kiss right in the spot between the Luthor’s shoulders, and she was pleased to see a shiver run down the woman’s arms. “What are you thinking about?”

“How crazy I’m about you,” her voice held a delighted tone and Kara knew, without looking at her face, that she was grinning. “And how sometimes you make me crazy.”

The blonde scoffed. “Crazy in love, that’s all.”

“Whatever makes you feel better.”

Kara chuckled and pressed another kiss, this time on the base of Lena’s neck. “Seriously, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?” And then she moved to lean into the railing so she could watch Lena’s face with the same interest she always did.

“I can’t stop thinking about tomorrow,” the smaller woman confessed quietly, looking away into the top of the buildings under them again.

“Everything is going to work out just fine, I’m sure of it.” Kara sighed and nodded, not an ounce of doubt on her voice. “You will testify against Lillian and then we will eat ice cream. I will get the cookie dough and you will get your frozen fruit. And then you promised me chocolate pecan pie.”

“That’s what you said,” Lena replied with a small grin, joining both of her hands in front of her over the railing. “Am I overreacting?”

“Just a little bit,” the hero answered fondly, then pinched her index finger and thumb close together, indicating a very small amount of overreaction.

Lena couldn’t help but mimic the gesture and lean over until she could press her head into Kara’s arm, and soon the couple was sharing several giggles among them. Lena’s hands came to close around the woman’s arm for a second before her girlfriend moved her arm around her shoulder to pull her closer. Always closer, never away. Then, the CEO wrapped her arms around Kara’s waist and sighed as she rested her head on her shoulder and felt a cheek on top of her head.

It was too cold to be outside for the time they did, even if it was already summer, but they didn’t mind staying just a bit more, embraced together like that. Finally, after a particularly cold breeze hit them and she noticed how Lena shivered, Kara nudged her side.

“We should go back to bed,” she suggested, making sure to keep her voice low and gentle. “You have to sleep and I have to go back to my very good dream.”

“What were you dreaming about?” Lena asked joyfully as she allowed Kara to turn them over so they could walk back inside. It was a little weird to talk without moving from the position they were cuddling in, but they managed and there was no way in Hell she was going to add any space between them.

Kara hummed. “You had just asked me to move in with you, and I did, and then we spent all day trying to figure out how to bring my boxes inside your very small elevator.”

Lena nodded. “Weird because it sounds like something we lived earlier today.”

“Except that, in my dream, I finally figure out how to bring the boxes,” Kara turned briefly to close the balcony door behind them, making sure she locked it with the password, and then they were walking again.

“And how are you going to do that?”

“I will fly them here,” Kara nodded with so much certain that Lena couldn’t help but laugh. “Tomorrow night, you will get home and there will be so many boxes lying around that you won’t even be able to enter. I will bring boxes that aren’t even mine, just because I can.”

Lena pushed their bedroom door open and kicked off her slippers. “Let’s just go to sleep and hopefully you will forget all about it.”

“I would never forget the best idea I ever had!” Kara declared as she laid down and waited for Lena to join her so she could cuddle her.

“You should also never forget that I love you,” the brunette commented, kneeled in bed, and leaned over to give her a kiss.

Kara laughed around her lips. “I love you too.”

* * *

There weren’t too many boxes when she got home the next day because Kara had also used her super-speed to put everything in place before going out to save the day. The only thing she left behind was her books and they had great fun combining their small house libraries while mocking each other's books.

“For someone who doesn’t read Oscar Wilde, you sure have a lot of his books.”

“Why do you have three copies of The Little Prince?”

“Hamlet? You have to be kidding me.”

“Kara, you saw all of my books before.”

“Still...”

She wasn’t even a little surprised that her office assembled a library in the end and she also didn’t care. After the hard work, and after Kara made a quick patrol around town to be sure everything was going smoothly, they ate pizza while sitting on the bedroom floor while sorting out Kara’s socks.

“Scooby-Doo?” Lena arched one eyebrow at her but Kara quickly snatched the socks from her hands in a defensive manner, causing a laugh from the other woman.

Lena was surprised by another box, though, six months later. It was black and small, and she immediately knew what it was even if she didn’t open it right away.

“Kara?’

The blonde smiled at her from across the table, spinning the box between her fingers. “I got tired of waiting for you to ask me.”

Lena couldn’t help but chuckle at the light tease directed at her. “I’m not hearing a question.”

Kara hummed and eyed her for several seconds until she decided to move. She pushed her chair back and got up, walking straight at where Lena was sitting at. Instead of kneeling down, she reached out for the woman’s hand and coaxed her to get up. Lena did exactly that, a soft smile playing on her lips, her green eyes shining with unreleased tears and expectations.

The hero walked backward until they were standing in the middle of the living room, then she smiled brightly. “I learned English when I got into this planet. I taught myself two other languages because of my job and I’m also one of the last two people who talk the language of a dead planet, and, even so, I will never be able to find enough words to describe how much I love you.”

Lena didn’t address when they started swaying to an imaginary song, hands clasped together even though Kara was still holding the box on her left one. “You’re a very smooth talker,” she whispered with tears in her eyes.

Kara chuckled and freed her left hand so she could pop open the black box. “So you won’t believe what I have to say next,” she teased.

The smaller woman wasn’t able to hold a gasp when she looked down between them. Inside the box, lying on the small pad was probably the thing that she would spend the rest of her life staring at. A beautiful, so delicate, so tasteful engagement ring with two twists on the band, sporting tiny diamonds on them, intertwined in the band to frame the center diamond, that was carved to assemble a flower. The engagement ring was made in rose gold, something that was so perfectly thought that she didn’t even have the words to describe it.

“Lena,” Kara started in a much softer voice, “will you marry me?”

She truly didn’t have to think twice. She didn’t even have to think at all. “Yes, Kara Zor-El, I will marry you.”

Kara pressed a kiss in every one of her knuckled after slipping the ring in, then she leaned over and kissed her lips and Lena thought that she could die and she would die happy right in that second.

“Alex wants to know if you cried,” the blonde said as soon as they pulled away.

Lena rolled her eyes, using the back of her hand to try and dry her cheeks but the tears just kept coming. “I swear she likes to make my life a nightmare.”

“I think all of Alex’s friends and family feel like that too, to be fair.” Kara shrugged, slipping the box into her pocket so she could place her hands on Lena’s hips to keep their slow dance to no music.

“Oh,” Lena quirked one eyebrow. “Do you think I finally owned the friend tittle after two years?”

Kara scoffed. “I’m afraid you’re her family now, babe.”

Feeling the familiar warmth on her chest, Lena only shook her head and leaned over for another peck. “You can call her later and tell her all about the tears you made me cry with your beautiful speech. Right now I want to celebrate with my fiancée.”

The blonde giggled. “Anything you want, babe.”

* * *

_3 years later_

Lena smiled at her reflection on the mirror, giving herself one more look over. Despite the ridiculous drawings splashed almost randomly over the front of her sweater, she nodded in approval. Over the years, she learned to buy her own sweaters if she didn’t want to end up dressed in something green that would make her look overly Irish or too close to an elf. She reached out for the earrings sitting on her nightstand before turning and heading for the door.

“Woah!” she breathed as soon as she turned into the corridor and was almost swept off her feet by a running little girl. “Where’s the fire?” Lena asked with one arched eyebrow as she looked down, grabbing onto the girl’s shoulders to stop her from falling back with the impact. “And where are your shoes?”

The little girl smiled a slight toothless smile at her before shrugging. Lena couldn’t help but laugh then as one of her hands moved to take some of the blonde curls out of her face.

“Go grab your shoes, we’re about to leave.”

The little girl ran off to the bedroom on the other side of the hallway between giggles despite the number of times Lena had asked her not to run around the house. She guessed that the terrible twos were even worse if your child was half-Kryptonian.

Lena shook her head fondly as she made her way into the kitchen. Kara was sitting on top of the counter, eating a gigantic bowl of Froot Loops, and Lena could stop wondering who taught the kid to do that. The sitting in the counter and the Froot Loops situation.

“Did you grab everything?” she asked while opening the fridge to get herself some water. Kara nodded since her mouth was full. “And your shoes?”

Kara looked down at her feet and to her old Scooby-Doo socks before looking back up with a shy smile and shrug. Honestly, Lena thought as she rolled her eyes, it was like having a clone. Lex would be proud.

When did it stop hurting to think about her brother? Lena wasn’t exactly sure, but she wasn’t complaining either.

When the little girl returned, she was holding an extra pair of much larger shoes in her little hands, almost too heavy for her to be able to carry it, and she let them fall close to Kara. “Here, mommy.”

The adult blonde jumped from the counter and bent down to press a kiss on the kid’s head. “Thank you, baby. What would I ever do without you?”

The girl smiled so brightly that it was like staring at two suns at the same time and Lena had to blink back a few emotional tears.

“Come on, we have to go or we’re going to be late for the Christmas party,” Lena clapped her hands a couple of times to set everyone into action. “It’s a long drive to Midvale and I don’t want anyone complaining if auntie Alex eats all the cookies before we get there!”

“Oh, no!” Kara gasped as she put the bowl down as scooped the little girl in her arms. “We can’t let that happen, Kyra! Tell mama to worry up!”

The girl was all laughs and giggles as her mommy ran around the apartment with her in her arms collecting random items and placing them close to their bags byt the door. Lena watched with a soft smile, not even a little worried by her wife’s shenanigans, until Kara actually picked up the microwave. That was when she decided she needed to step in if she wanted to keep things working and without breaking.

“Okay, microwave _and_ the kid down!” she demanded, waving both hands.

Kara pouted but did as she was told, throwing a mischievous look at Lena as she did so. Once she had her back straight again, she sighed. “Rude.”

Lena placed her hands on Kara’s back and pushed her out of the kitchen, the little girl quickly trying to mimic her moves on the back of her thighs. “Go put everything back, then put the bags in the car. I will tie Kyra’s shoes and pick her coloring books and we will meet you there.” Kara was already halfway to the door when Lena called out. “And put your shoes on, Jesus!”

Christmas that year was a bit louder than the years before. All of her friends were invited and all of them could make it this time, which meant the Danvers’ house was crowded. The seven years old twins Maggie and Alex had adopted, Grace and Faith, were more than eager to engage Nia and Ruby in some play they had invented, and the little boy Alex had just given birth to, Elijah, wasn’t enjoying the people talking around him at all.

Brainy was fast to drag Lena and Winn into some nerd conversation that she was only half paying attention because Kyra kept trying to climb her legs. Alex and Kara were talking excitedly over some new game Mon-El was showing them, Sam and Maggie were chatting in the kitchen with Eliza, J’onn was watching all of them from a corner like a creep while James tried to engage him in a conversation, and it draws to Lena, not for the first time, that she definitely purchased much more than a wife.

Later, when they all found a spot to sit on, some of them with their plates on their laps, Lena found herself watching Kara feeding little Kyra small portions of food while her own plate was forgotten in front of her.

“She’s 100% your child,” Lena commented with a laugh as she took a sip from her water. Kara only stuck her tongue at her over her shoulder exactly like Kyra would do.

“When are you two making another one of those?” She heard from her other side and she turned to see Sam balancing one of the twins on her leg while she waited for Alex to come back from breastfeeding or Maggie to stop being tackled on the floor by the other twin. “I was promised to be the godmother of the next one.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “You wish.”

“I do, yes,” Sam nodded in a teasing manner and Lena rolled her eyes, being quickly mimicked by her friend.

Before she could reply, though, the twin on Sam’s lap – and Lena still had to learn how to tell them apart even though they have been a part of the family for two years now – demanded her attention and the woman looked down to see what the fuzz was about. Lena smiled at that and moved to grab her fork, but then she felt a hand curling around her stomach, right where a little bean was slowly growing up, and she turned to look at Kara again, soft smile in place.

The blonde was also smiling at her and Lena quickly found herself pressing her hand on top of Kara’s like they could actually feel the life inside her. She started to lean over to gain her very much deserved kiss, and their lips were almost brushing, when Kara spoke suddenly.

“It seems like you have a crush on me,” she teased with a wink and Lena rolled her eyes at her.

“It’s true,” she heard Alex speaking as she walked inside the room again, holding little Elijah. “I heard her talking about it with Sam.”

“And she’s using her best perfume just for you,” her best friend agreed with a nod and a serious tone.

“And she has that look on her face,” Winn wiggled a finger at her direction from across the room, holding a twin over his shoulder. “The one we can all see when she looks at you.”

“Jesus,” Lena groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “You all suck.”

“Oh, babe, you have it bad for me.” Kara laughed as she finally bent over to give her the kiss she wanted.

She did, didn’t she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara: Hey, what is this?  
> Lena: I think that's a note.  
> Kara: ... Okay. What do we do with that?  
> Lena: We say things.  
> Kara: Like what?  
> Lena: Anything we want, this is our story.  
> Kara: Oh. Can I try?  
> Lena: Sure, shoot.  
> Kara: Alex's hair smell like feet!  
> Lena: Okay, Kara, no, that's not-


End file.
